X-Com 2: Humanity
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: This take place after the events of X-Com 2. What makes a human what they are? Is it our strengths? Our weaknesses? Or something else? This is a fanfiction, I own none of the rights to any of the X-Com franchises. Spoilers will happen.
1. Chapter 1

**Not Human Enough**

Jane Kelly was looking for trouble. It was what she did. It wasn't her fault that her job had always been to find things that could go wrong and bring trouble to them. It was what rangers _did_.

The word 'ranger' meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Some thought of beings who had warded parks and recreation areas back when such places had meaning. Others thought of law enforcers given authority to ride everywhere in their jurisdiction to keep the peace by any means necessary. Still others thought it means some kind of commando and that was closer to what Jane was. Not entirely, but then again, nothing in human experience had prepared humanity for what had happened.

There had been warning signs for decades and various groups had risen to understand and contain any potential threats. None had succeeded however and humanity had fallen. Jane had been born into a world far different from the one her parents remembered. She barely remembered her parents. One day, Advent troops had come and dragged both of them away. She had been five? Six? She didn't remember. A lot of that time was a blur of drugs and fear. She had been taken to a place for 'relocation' but instead of an orphanage or other Advent run facility, the director of the holding facility had seen her, had seen the ball of anger she held deep inside her and sent her to a very quiet man named Jacques who raised her as his own. She had come to love the old curmudgeon even when he had driven her completely bonkers at times. Then one day, Advent had come for him. Jane had escaped the cordon by sheer happenstance. Jane had gone out for supplies, she was smaller and faster on her feet so it simply made sense for her to scavenge through the blasted rubble that had once been a prosperous city. She had watched from concealment as Advent troops had stormed the building she called home.

To her amazement, they had been _repulsed_. Two other families had called the structure home along with Jane and Jacques. She did not know where they had gotten weapons, or why the Advent called in no less than _three_ additional transports full of troops to overwhelm the place. She remembered the taste of blood as she had bitten her hand to keep from crying out as the misshapen forms had assaulted her home, taking fore from weapons that she did not know. When the firing had stopped, she hadn't relaxed. Oh no. She knew her mentor. Sure enough, no sooner had the Advent forces approached the house to search or whatever they did than it had exploded, taking most of the Advent force with it, including a transport. Something had landed near her, something long and shiny. She had reached for it and someone had grabbed her.

Jacques had taught her well. Her first strike had been low and the second had been high. But both were blocked! Something had hit her neck and she had been woozy enough not to fight any more. The man holding her had pulled her way from the blasted remnants of her life, introduced himself as 'Central' and changed her life irrevocably.

Jane shook off her memories and smiled a little as she walked. The world had changed again. But this time, it was in a better way. For so long, X-Com had been a terrorist organization in almost every regard, striking Advent operations when and as they could. There was simply no way for the small force to match Advent's might in any protracted engagement, so they hadn't tried. Their strengths had been mobility, deception and surprise. The goal had been noble, to free Earth from her overlords. The _methods_ had been less so. There were things that Jane had done that to this day turned her stomach, but _nothing_ she had done compared to what X-Com had discovered during their battles with Advent.

Very few on Earth knew how close humanity had come to being wiped out entirely. Not in conflict, but quietly rendered down to the basic constituents that made up human flesh. Just the thought of the Black Sites made her angry again, but she shoved the anger aside with the skill of long practice. Anger did not help anyone. She was more than her anger now. So much more.

Jane walked down the street wary despite the calm that pervaded the area. This town had risen up against Advent in the wake of X-Com's final attack on the aliens' base of operations and they had welcomed X-Com with open arms when the resistance had finally arrived. She and her team had been detailed to provide security for relief efforts so here she was.

X-Com was not a relief organization. It was too small and too focused to do much at all in that regard despite the unprecedented mobility that their HQ provided. The Avenger simply did not have enough room inside to carry enough supplied for more than its own team. Most of the space inside the repurposed alien cargo ship was allocated to specific tasks. Workshops, laboratories, armories, power supplies and the like provided the materials for the soldiers living aboard to use in battle. There wasn't space for much more. Luckily, they did not need it.

While X-Com was small and tightly knit, the Resistance against Advent and their alien masters had been far more decentralized. It simply made sense for such an organization to act in cells, small groups that only knew each other. She hadn't known as a child that her adoptive father Jacques had been a cell leader. She wouldn't have understood. But now? She did. The Resistance was organized in ways that baffled even the bard bitten commando, sneaky underhanded methods of bypassing Advent security. These methods allowed the Resistance to send material where it was needed, to send food or blankets to where people were hungry or cold. To call for X-Com troops if things got out of hand to be controlled by local forces who usually had little more than sticks or captured weaponry at their disposal.

Jane was not sure why Central and the Commander had sent her squad of six to this out of the way town in the middle of the East Coast of what had once been called the United States. On one hand, it made sense to show the flag, to show that X-Com was present and in control. On the other hand, Jane was used to operating in the shadows. Yes, she had been through the advanced training course that the Commander had put together and she was considered a good leader by her team, but...

"Excuse me, Ma'am?"

Jane jerked to a halt and turned to see something that she had rarely seen in her life, a human child. Children were so rare and so precious after the fall that anyone sane hid their children. Even Advent had taken special care when children were involved, they had entire teams dedicated to 'removing' children from dangerous areas. Jane had fallen prey to one such team as a young child and nearly fallen to another when she was a teen and lost her dad. No one knew what happened to many of those kids and most of X-Com that Jane talked to had confided to having nightmares about it.

But Jane was obviously not Advent. Her armor was uniquely X-Com in design and her wrap around powered visor showed her face in a way that no Advent trooper would have been allowed. She lifted the muzzle of her shotgun to the sky, they had declined her wish to carry her usual Storm Cannon on such a mission. She could understand, a little. Having humans carrying alien looking weapons might spark trouble. Her fusion blade was far, far better than any human tech could produce on its own, but that was harder to tell with a glance.

"Yes?" Jane asked when the child stared at her warily. The boy was maybe seven or eight and malnourished as so many humans outside of Advent control tended to be. "Can I help you?"

"I um..." The boy looked unsure and Jane waited. If he was anything like she had been at that age, all it would take was one wrong move and he would bolt. It wouldn't do much good against Advent stun weapons, but being fast on your feet helped a lot. Jane considered her early years good training for her current role.

"I don't bite, boy." Jane said with a smile. "As long as you are not one of _them_. And you look way too human to be one of them." She wrinkled her face into a comical grimace and the boy smiled, just a little.

"Are you human?" The boy asked, eyes wide as he stared at her armor and weapon.

"Yeah." Jane frowned a little at the question but nodded. "I bleed red. Seen enough of my own blood to last a lifetime, but yeah. I am human. Why?"

"You don't look like me." The boy protested. He scowled indignantly when Jane laughed. "What?"

"Well, I _hope_ I don't look like you. I am a _woman_." Jane put just the right tone of self derision in her tone not to offend and the boy grinned at her. She looked down at herself and the at the boy. "We _do_ look a little different."

"You look like a machine." The boy said slowly. Jane held out her free hand and he stared at it. "What?"

"I am not a machine." Jane said softly. "This is my clothes. Touch it." She kept very still as the boy reached out and ran his fingers across her armored forearm. "I wear this to fight the aliens."

"You fight." The boy murmured. Jane paused, that was odd. "Why do you fight?"

"I didn't have a choice." Jane replied. "Fight or die, those were the choices I was given. I didn't want to die."

"Neither do I." The boy said weakly. Jane stared at him, confused. Something sprayed from his other hand at her face, but battle honed reflexes kicked in. She lashed out even as her visor sealed her face away from whatever contaminant the boy had thrown. The boy cried out as she hit his arm. His aim was deflected and before the throw was even half done, she was a meter away, the spray flying harmless to stain a wall nearby. Her onboard systems were working to identify the substance. It wasn't a toxin or anything weapon related on record. The chemical analysis... Wait! Was that _scarlet_ _paint_? Had he just tried to throw _paint_ on her?

"Mind telling me why you just tried to paint me?" Jane asked mildly. The boy stared at her and flushed bright red.

"The Elders say you need to leave, I don't want to do this, but I don't have anywhere else to go." The boy froze as Jane stiffened, her weapon automatically coming down to a ready position, if not quite aimed at him. Then again, she had been part of the team that had gone into the enemy fortress and what they had found boggled the mind. But the alien Elders were gone, right? So... "The paint marks you as one of the Lost."

"Lost? I am not lost, boy." Jane said firmly. "Throwing paint at people who are trying to help you isn't nice." Whatever else she was going to say was cut off as a roar of anger sounded nearby.

"There he is! Get him!" Jane went still as the boy darted behind her, cowering behind her legs as five men came running around a corner ahead. They came to a sudden stop on seeing Jane. The one in front goggled at her. "Ah... X-Com?"

Instead of answering, Jane raised her shotgun to port arms and waited. As always, the silent, grim apparition that was an X-Com operative loosened tongues fast.

"That thing is an alien!" The man said, pointing at the boy cowering behind Jane. "Kill it!"

"Not any I have seen." Jane replied, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. She did not move.

"That _thing_ looks like Sara Pikerson's boy." The spokesman of the group said with a snarl. "She is dead. They took him. That isn't him." Jane looked from the man to the cowering boy and back. Something was wrong here. The boy wasn't hostile. He was terrified, but not of Jane, which was odd considering she was the only one armed.

-Shogun- The voice of Control in her ear was a welcome diversion. -We show armor activation. You okay?- Having big brother in the sky watching got old on occasion, but she knew it was a good thing.

"Got something odd here, Control." Jane said aloud. "What looks like a human child just tried to throw paint on me and a group of men are claiming he is an alien." The five men shared glances but none moved. Wise as keyed up as Jane was.

- _Paint?_ \- Control's disbelief cracked his iron clad discipline for a moment. No surprise, it matched Jane's own. -You are the one on the ground. What do you think?-

"Whatever is going on here is odd, Control." Jane said, not taking her eyes from the men who were looking at each other now. "Recommend isolate and examine."

"No!" The boy screamed, but Jane reached down and grabbed him before he could flee. The men didn't move as Jane tried to hold the boy. He twisted out of her grip and bolted. She stared as he slid through a culvert that was far too small for her. She spun back to the men who gawped at her.

"Stay here in case he doubles back." Jane commanded as she mentally keyed commands on her heads up display faster than most humans could follow. Multitasking came early for X-com operatives. "And X-Com command wants him _alive_. My team will be here momentarily."

"What are you-?" The spokesman broke off with an oath as Jane raised an arm.

Lily Shen and her engineering teams had worked wonders during the conflict and after, making tech that never should have worked together not only work, but sing and dance on demand. The grapnel that shot from her wrist mounted launcher was tiny by human standards. The carbon fiber cord that trailed from it was nearly impossible to see. More than one of them men inhaled in awe as Jane flew into the air, pulled by her grapple up onto a nearby roof. She paused, checking her scanners. She had a faint IR trace, but it was fading. She started that way and keyed her com.

"Control, subject has fled." Jane ran lightly to the end of the roof and threw herself off. Her gear wouldn't let her fly but it was far lighter than it looked. "Request any surveillance available."

-We show an IR trace moving away to your southwest at six meters.- Jane nodded even though control couldn't possibly see that. -Status?-

"The humans said he was an alien that looked like a child they knew." Jane kept up her run. At this speed, she could literally run for hours. "Something is very wrong here. He mentioned 'Elders'. Put the team on alert."

-Elders.- The voice was different. Central was on the line now. -What about Elders?-

"I don't know." Jane stopped short as her IR trace vanished. She stood on the roof and scanned both visual and with all of her scanners. Nothing. "Control, I just lost my trace."

-Roger that. Hold position.- The voice of Control was back. If she knew Bradford at all, Central was probably checking in with the other teams and maybe even the Commander.

"We will lose him, Control." Jane protested, but remained in place. If there was _one_ thing X-Com operative knew how to do, it was obey orders.

-Team ETA two minutes.- Control replied.

"What?" Jane demanded. That was far too long. "Where _were_ they? Oh hell. Syndrome was at the bar, wasn't he?"

The psi operative was a very good person to have at your side in a fight. He never lost control. He never did anything that made anyone doubt his ability. Outside of fighting, he was a very different person. Without the focus of combat, he often drank himself into a stupor to try and drown out the voices in his head. Jane could sort of understand, she had her own ghosts. At least when he was drunk he couldn't use any of his powers. Just the thought of an out of control psi operative would have made any X-Com operative wet him or herself. Almost everyone had seen psionics in battle, both the aliens using it first and then X-Com once the humans had figured out how to unlock it. It was terrifying what lay within the deepest recesses of the human mind. The outward changes to hair and eyes were the least of the alterations.

-Feedback reports he only had one drink.- Control reassured her.

"One drink of _what_?" Jane snapped.

'Feedback', the team medic was good, no question. But she also had a crush on Syndrome that he was never going to notice, poor slob. He refused to open his mind to his teammates. That explained why the two of them were together. Gertrude tried to keep him out of trouble and it was a full time job out of combat. One beer wasn't going to impact the veteran psi operative. One shot of home brewed _moonshine_ would be a _very_ different story. Her thoughts broke off as a human voice cried out in pain and terror nearby. It sounded like the boy.

"Control, I am hearing sounds of a young human in distress. Request permission to investigate." Jane said flatly. "Team is less than a minute, yes?"

-A lot can happen in a minute, Shogun.- Central's voice was flat, but he understood. Did he _ever_. They had both seen far too many dead humans in their time. They were jaded, but there were limits too. -Be careful.-

"Acknowledged." Jane stepped forward, eying the roof she stood on. It had seen far better days. So it came as no surprise when she took another step and the surface under her caved in.

 _All in a day's work for X-Com._ Jane had time to think ruefully as she fell. Then darkness claimed her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Instincts**

Jane Kelly had expected what happened. The roof was in bad shape. Instead of being taken by surprise and knocked unconscious by the fall, she tucked her body into a proper position and rolled as she had been taught. The darkness inside the building she had been standing on was far too complete to be natural. She noted that even as she fell.

She was surprised when instead of slamming into something hard, she hit something that went 'splut' underneath her. Whatever it was yielded to her impact instead of resisting and while it hurt, it didn't knock her unconscious or break any bones. She knew both feeling far too well. She was on her side. Partially on her stomach. One eye was covered by whatever she was on, the other was clear.

"Control?" She called, but there was no response. She tried to get up and couldn't. Whatever she as lying on was sticky or something. She struggled for a moment before realizing that her struggles were tightening the grip of whatever held her. Physical struggles would not get her out of whatever she was in. She went limp instead.

"Smart Lost." The hissing words came from nowhere and Jane tried to turn her head to see in the darkness, but whatever held her wouldn't allow it. Her shotgun's sling had retracted the weapon to its resting position against her chest, but both of her hands were immobilized too far away to reach that or her sword. "He did well."

Part of the darkness moved nearby and her free eye tracked it, trying to get a feel for what had her. Alien of course. But... why wasn't it attacking? Aliens attacked X-com on sight, it was what they _did_. No quarter was offered or given in the battles they fought.

"Whatever you are." Jane said quietly. "My team will be here in moments. If you are going to kill me, do it now."

"Brave Lost." The other sounded _sad_? Female? "Are you what we need? Can you feel me, Lost? Can you hear me?"

"Why are you calling me 'Lost'?" Jane demanded. "I am not 'Lost'."

"You are." The other was sad. "You are brave and strong, but you are Lost. Are you the one to take the burden?" Jane hissed as something gripped the back of her helmet. She couldn't see anything in the darkness. Her helmet gave a screech and her eyes went huge as the readouts on her HUD failed along with the force field that protected her face. Something that was oddly gentle pressed her face into whatever was holding her. She had to get free! She struggled, but something hissed nearby and coolness settled over her face. Everything went distant, she was calm and relaxed. "We will not hurt you, Lost. We hope you are the one. We need..."

Bright light slammed into Jane and an inhuman screech sounded. Whatever held her helmet vanished as the sounds of gunfire came to Jane's ears.

"Left!" The cool words were familiar. Fridge was not a verbose person. She may have been once, but years of fighting, running and surviving had taught the soldier in the harshest school imaginable. Jane heard the woman's cannon open up, but then the other cursed as metal clicked. "Tunnel! Plas out!" A mighty blast heralded the grenadier's efforts. Plasma grenades made a hell of a mess. Jane lay silent in her bonds as movement sounded all around her. "Clear!" Called Fridge.

"Clear!" Came a call nearby. Male, and in control. Syndrome wasn't drunk. Good.

"Clear!" Came another voice. Hollywood was the team sniper. Calm and cool, she rarely showed any emotion at all. The worst exclamation that Jane had ever heard from her was a quiet 'Darn' when she missed a shot.

"Clear." The unhurried voice of the team's heavy support mech was, as always, not quite human enough to pass as one, but welcome nonetheless. Why Lily insisted on calling the thing 'Duke', Jane had never really had the guts to ask. As handles went, it wasn't even close to the worst she had heard and the machine seemed to like it. As much as a machine _could_.

"Shogun?" That was Feedback, the team medic. Jane's second in command. She sounded worried. Jane did not like the woman sounding worried. That was wrong. She was strong, they all were. What was _wrong_ with Jane? "Can you hear me?" Jane tried to open her mouth, but she couldn't. Nothing worked but she wasn't afraid. Feedback cursed. "What the hell is _this_? This gunk all over her?"

"Do not touch her!" Syndrome snapped. "I can feel it from here. Some kind of psycho-reactive substance is all over her."

"We cannot just _leave_ her in this... this _thing_." Feedback replied without heat. "We need to get her out."

"This room is cannot be secured." Duke spoke up. "Multiple small tunnels are open all around. The team does not possess enough grenades to seal every tunnel and heavier munitions will bring down the cavern."

"We need to get her out of this thing and get her to medical support. She is pressed deep into this mat. Whatever it is." Feedback pressed. Someone hissed and she snarled at them. "None of us are carrying long blades. Let me try this." Jane felt a hand run across her back and her sword was suddenly free. She tried to feel relief, alarm, anything, but it would not come. She was-

Pain exploded across her back and side and she could not resist a scream as it blew right past whatever as holding her in check. Shouts of alarm came from all around.

"What the _hell_?" Feedback sounded shocked. "I didn't touch _her_!"

"That thing is connected _directly_ to her nerves." Syndrome sounded freaked, a new one in Jane's experience. She had seen him stand in the face of a Muton Berserker's charge without a hint of fear, but this was not anything they had seen. "Right through the armor."

"Don't _hurt_ her!" An anguished cry came from nearby. The boy from before?

"Don't move, boy!" Feedback commanded. "Hollywood?"

"No weapons, no toxins." The sniper said after a moment. "Syndrome?"

"He is afraid for Shogun." The psychic said after a moment. "He is human, but... there is something odd about him." His tone was perplexed. For Syndrome to sound that unsure, whatever was odd was _really_ odd. "His name is Sam."

"Sam." Feedback said after a moment. "What did you do to Shogun here?"

"I didn't." The boy was crying. "She fell. We tried to help her. We wanted to talk. We just wanted to _talk_."

"Syndrome?" Feedback asked.

"Truth is as far as it goes." Syndrome said after a moment. "He is very afraid. For himself and for Shogun."

"Boy. Sam. Come here." Feedback commanded. "If you try to run again, my compatriot will stun you. It won't hurt you permanently, but it won't feel very good either."

Jane could not wince in whatever held her, but she wanted to. In training, every X-Com trooper was exposed to anything and everything the command could do to simulate alien weapons and tactics. Stun weapons were not common in Advent forces, but they could be devastating.

"Please don't hurt me. Please do not hurt her." Sam begged. Jane felt her heart go out to the boy and... She felt his fear, his worry and it spiked through her. Pain slammed though both of her wrists and she managed to force words out.

"Ow. Don't hurt him." Utter silence greeted Jane's words.

"Shogun?" Feedback sounded wary now. If Jane could only see what was happening...

Suddenly, she _could!_ But... She was staring at the business end of an X-Com assault rifle aimed at her. But it was far too high. Or, _she_ was far too low. She stared at the rifle and then the viewpoint moved. She wasn't doing it! She saw an orange _thing_ lying on the floor of what looked like a natural cavern, dark and wet with stalactites and stalagmites all around. It was at least a meter thick and had a green and brown thing sticking out of it. A shudder ran through Jane as she realized it was a _leg_. Armored. _Her_ leg?

"This is really weird." Jane managed through whatever was holding her. "Can't think very well. Cut me loose."

"No!" The boy screamed and the viewpoint changed. Something whined in the near distance and the viewpoint was suddenly far higher than it had been. "Let me go, you monster!" The view shifted wildly. Was the boy flailing?

"The boy will harm himself." Duke's precise words were clear and seemed to come from two directions.

"Boy. Sam. Stop." Jane said and the boy froze. "Team. I am seeing through his eyes. Can you turn him to see... me?" Her view shifted and she could see herself lying on her side in the orange mass. She was deep in it, her bare face half buried in it. Her head was coated in an odd looking blue substance. Why wasn't she suffocating? How was she _talking_? "Where is my voice coming from?"

"From the end of the orange thing." Feedback said with a gulp.

"It is connected to me." Jane said softly. "Oh dear. Whatever they did to me... Get me loose. Feedback, stun me and cut me loose."

"No!" The boy screamed as another armored form raised a stunner. "You can't! You will _kill_ her!"

"We cannot leave her here, boy." Feedback's tone was gentler.

"No." Sam was crying and Jane felt her heart break as his pain spiked to ungodly levels.

The pain was increasing as he struggled fruitlessly in Duke's metal grasp. It cut off with the whine of an Arc Thrower and the familiar feeling of electronic stun. He would wake up in a few hours with a headache, but nothing worse. Jane had wished so many times for something like that during the war. So many friends had been lost because they needed to be in close proximity to use skulljacks. A stun weapon would have made things so much easier.

"Cut me loose?" Jane tried to say, but nothing came out. However she had managed to speak had vanished with the boy's consciousness. Something touched her mind and she recoiled, but it wasn't an alien attack, far from it. It didn't actually penetrate her psyche. She knew _that_ feeling. It just touched her and sat there.

"She wants to be cut loose." Syndrome said quietly. "Whatever that blue substance is, I can feel her a lot stronger than usual. She is not psychic, but it is enhancing her mind somehow."

"Damn. Tygan wants to see it." Feedback sounded conflicted and Jane could relate. "The Commander has ordered us to hold the area and wait for an extraction team."

"This is a bad idea." Jane tried to say but nothing came out. Syndrome snorted and spoke.

"Shogun says it is a bad idea." The psychic agreed with her from his tone. But they all knew how to obey orders.

"Of _course_ it is a bad idea." Feedback retorted. "Does HQ ever give us _good_ ones?" A sour chuckle came from everyone except Duke. "Syndrome, you can talk to Shogun?"

"She can hear us fine." The male operative replied with a small growl of annoyance. "She just cannot reply in any way you can hear. I will translate."

"Good. Well... while we are waiting for the Skyranger, I am going to run a set of scans on the boy and Shogun." Feedback said after a moment. "Duke, lay him here and assume overwatch protocols."

"Acknowledged." The machine replied.

"The mat is _moving_!" Fridge said quickly and several people hissed. "The boy!" Jane tried to stiffen, but couldn't move. "Get him clear!"

"Got him." Hollywood said after a moment. "It...stopped? What the hell?"

"This thing is made of human DNA." Feedback said in shock. "Why would aliens make something like _this_ out of human DNA?"

"Why do the aliens do anything they do?" Syndrome asked, hate coloring his tone. "They are alien."

 _Don't hate them Syndrome._ Jane said to him. _Do not give them that kind of power. Kill them if you must, but do not hate them. Hate given them power._ Where had _that_ come from? Jane hated the aliens too with all of her soul.

 _Shogun._ Syndrome's voice was in her mind, gentle, quiet. A far cry from his bitterness soaked normal voice. _That wasn't you._ It wasn't really a question.

 _Then what was it? Syndrome, help!_ Shogun begged. Begged. She hadn't begged _anyone_ for _anything_ since she had seen her foster father die!

 _Someone is trying to communicate._ Syndrome said slowly. _But this is utterly unlike anything the aliens did. I need to think on this._

 _Syndrome, don't let them use me!_ Shogun snapped. _Do whatever you have to!_ A feeling of shock, of fear and of consternation swept through her. Then a feeling of understanding. _Not_ from Syndrome. The grip on her tightened, just a little and her emotions faded further.

 _Shogun?_ Syndrome's tone was odd. Confusion warred with awe.

 _I am here._ Shogun managed through the haze that was pervading her now. _I don't know for how long. It is trying to take me over. To use me._

 _No, it is not._ Syndrome was gentle. So different now. _Lead, do you trust me?_

 _What kind of a question is_ **that** _?_ Jane demanded. _Of course I trust you even if you are a blind jerk._

 _Let go._ The psychic said in reply. Jane felt every fiber of her being go still at that absurdity.

 **What** _did you say?_ Jane demanded. What kind of X-Com operative told _another_ to stop fighting?

 _Let go._ Syndrome said quietly. _I know it sounds absurd, but you are hurting yourself. Feedback is worried at your readings. Stop fighting. This thing could have hurt you. It didn't. Why not? Any alien we know would have. Why didn't it?_

 _How the_ **hell** _should_ **I** _know?"_ Jane screamed in her mind. **You** _are the fucking psychic!_

 _Yeah, I am._ Syndrome was unmoved by her anger. _Rest now, lead. It is going to be okay._

Jane had a bare moment to understand his intent before a wave of soothing numbness swept across her. She could not resist as she was gathered in and pulled close by something she could not define. She could not resist the feelings that swept through her. Comfort, understanding, sorrow, love. She could only take the flow of emotion for a moment before her brain shut down. But even as she fell asleep, the comfort followed her, singing her quietly into slumber. She fell into it soothed.

* * *

 _Thank you._ The words were not audible, but they were not mental either. They were something else. Every member of the team, even Duke, froze at them. _Connection was nearly impossible as it was. She is so hurt. So alone. She cannot trust._

"None of us can." Syndrome was the first to react. His SMG was aimed at the orange mat and Shogun, but his voice was clear. "After everything that has happened, trust is impossible between humans and aliens. But you are not alien, are you?" All of the others shot incredulous glances at him. He ignored them.

 _I do not know._ The other said quietly. _I woke here, surrounded by death. I do not know what I am._

"Syndrome." Feedback's warning was clear even as she scanned Shogun's still form again. "Wait... Is this thing _shrinking_?"

 _The large size was needed to cushion her fall._ The odd voice said calmly. _It is not convenient for her transport to medical care. She is hurting. So hurting. I want to help, but I do not know how._

"Do nothing." Syndrome warned. "If you do _anything_ , you will die along with her. As I say, we cannot trust. She would be the _first_ to tell us to shoot now."

 _That might be the wiser course, yes._ The odd voice replied and the X-Com troops glanced at one another before returning their gaze to their sectors. _I know not what I am. But I live. I feel. I am afraid. For myself and for Sam. For this one and all of you Lost._

"Why do you call us that?" Syndrome asked.

 _The Elders used your commander for their ends._ The other replied. _They lost your commander and regard you all who serve in the group as affiliated with the lost one. To them, you are the Lost. I mean no offense. What should call you?_

"We are X-Com." Syndrome said before Feedback could speak. She glared at him and he shrugged. "Humanity's defense."

 _I see._

Whatever else was going to be said was cut off as a pair of robots much like Duke entered the cavern. Both held elerium phase cannon ready. Far heavier weapons than the team had needed for peacekeeping.

"Control." Feedback was in charge again. "Backup has arrived, but the situation has changed."

"Changed _how_ , Feedback?" Central was back on the line and he was not happy. Then again, he _had_ known Shogun for a long time. Feedback looked at Syndrome who sighed and keyed his com.

"Central, Syndrome. Shogun is alive, but there is a consciousness talking through her." The psychic said quietly.

" _Through_ her?" Central demanded. "An alien?"

"I do not think so, Central." Syndrome was thoughtful, a far cry from his usual bitterness. "The feel is completely different from any alien mind I have touched. Add to that, it worked hard to keep us from hurting Shogun or the boy who led her into this trap. If it _was_ one."

"What _else_ would you call it?" Feedback demanded angrily as the two newly come Sparks slung their cannon to lift the now much smaller mat between them. They started off the way they had come without any word. Syndrome bent down and picked up the unconscious boy before anyone else could. Feedback eyed him and he shook his head.

"I do not need a hand free to fight or defend myself if it comes to it." Syndrome said quietly. "I will carry him."

"You are acting weird." Feedback said, her rifle muzzle wavering a little towards him.

"I know." Syndrome agreed. "I know I will be vetted fully when we get back. Not looking forward to it, but I can handle it. This one and Shogun will need to go into isolation until we can determine if they are clean. I think they are, but we need to be sure. As for what happened here?"

"Communication."


	3. Chapter 3

**Home**

Jane Kelly was awake. She was aware. But it was odd. Everything was orange in her vision as she looked around slowly. The room wasn't one she was familiar with. But she knew what it was. The glass partition that served as one wall showed a familiar form lying on a bunk, his hand outstretched towards the ceiling. Syndrome was bouncing a ball in his hand, but he wasn't touching it. A simple telekinetic trick that regularly impressed newbies. He paused in his bouncing and looked at her, his face professionally blank.

"You knocked me out." Jane said flatly.

"Yeah." Syndrome's tone held no apology.

"Why?" Jane kept her voice level through sheer force of will. She was X-Com damn it, not a teenager anymore! She was in control of herself.

"To facilitate communication." Syndrome said flatly. Jane stared at him and then she scoffed. He shook his head." And before you say it, I am sober."

"I don't care." Jane snapped. "You had no right to knock me out!"

"Your blood pressure was spiking and you were overly emotional." Syndrome replied. "Just like now." Jane stiffened but then shook her head. "Shogun... We need answers."

"You need to get your head out of your _ass!_ " Jane said with a growl as she sat up. She went still as she saw her hands. They were orange! "What the hell?" She stared at the rest of her body. She was wearing a patient gown instead of her uniform and every bit of visible skin was orange! "Why didn't you _kill_ me?" Jane demanded.

"Maybe because the intelligence that was trying to communicate _through_ you did not make us?" Syndrome snarked. "Or maybe we just like your new color."

"Don't make me _hurt_ you, Syndrome." Jane warned. _Not_ an idle threat. She had in the past. He was far more powerful, _she_ was far _sneakier_. Syndrome smiled a little at her and relaxed. "What?"

"Had to be sure you were you, boss." Syndrome said with a sigh and he sat up, tension leaving his body. "This is unprecedented. Hence why you are in isolation in the psi lab."

"And why _you_ are sitting there instead of Firefly." Jane knew that Syndrome would do whatever was needed.

Rachel Harding, whose handle was 'Firefly', was the other well trained psi they currently had aboard. She was younger than Syndrome and Jane, not as hardened by the life she had led. She had been picked out of a lineup as psi potential almost as soon as she had arrived aboard. Since then, she had been training. She was good, no question. But she wasn't as hard as the veterans. She hadn't seen what they had, done what they had, sacrificed as much of themselves for victory as they had. Syndrome understood Jane in a way that Firefly likely never would. No offense to the girl, Jane actually admired her ability to keep her idealism. But she simply wasn't capable of making the hard calls. She would never be a team leader. Syndrome _was_. Well, when he stayed sober anyway. Hence why he didn't have a team _now_.

"Firefly is keeping an eye on Sam." Syndrome said with a nod. "Kid has no fear in him. No _sense_ either." The psi said with a grimace that Jane shared.

Just the _thought_ of a kid running around on a flying machine filled with all kinds of war making material stacked everywhere and every which way made her wince. Firefly had her work cut out for her to keep the kid out of trouble and safe.

"Okay." Jane blew out a deep breath. "So I am back. I assume Tygan had his wicked way with me?" Syndrome smiled at that and nodded.

"Him and the docs, yeah." Syndrome agreed. "They checked you over thoroughly. No injuries." He frowned. "Physical ones anyway." He shook his head. "The orange skin is a new layer a few millimeters thick. It acts like a tougher skin. The substance isn't anything that anyone has seen before. Whatever it is though, it showed human DNA, not alien."

"But even so, I may not be human anymore." Jane allowed. Syndrome bowed his head. Not quite a nod, but close. "Damn it." She heaved a sigh and then focused. "It got in through my neck seals when my helmet was breached?"

"That is our best guess." Syndrome replied. "And then the substance that was all over your head was a psi reactive substance that acted like a conductor. It allowed you to hear the other."

"Almost wish this had happened to you." Jane was only half joking. Syndrome shrugged. "What?"

"It wouldn't work on me." The psi said without a trace of arrogance. "That whole setup was for someone without psi. And no, the roof wasn't trapped, just old. You were supposed to follow the kid down instead of falling. They had to improvise when you fell. It was a long way down. A little more than four stories." Jane stared at him and then at her hands. "Yeah, the other mind told me that before the gunk wore off."

"Where did it -the gunk- come from?" Jane asked.

"I never got the chance to ask. It got harder and harder to talk to the other as we exited the cavern. By the time we were in the light, I couldn't hear it's voice." Syndrome admitted. "Sam apparently can though."

"Hence why he is still here and not at an orphanage." Jane said and froze as a sense of worry sang through her. It wasn't _hers_! "Ah...Syndrome...?"

"You are still linked to the other mind, Shogun." The psi said gently. "We don't know how to remove you. The command crew are divided on what to do with you. Tygan wants to study you. Central wants you euthanized and disposed of. Lilly is undecided and no one knows what the Commander will do."

"I understand Central's feelings." Jane said softly, still staring at her hands. A sense of consternation came from deep within her mind and she shook her head. "After so long fighting, it is all I know. Kill or be killed. Simple."

"Yeah." Syndrome agreed. "So much simpler than living."

"At least I do not crawl into a _bottle_ every chance I get." Jane half snarled. Syndrome nodded to acknowledge the rebuke.

"No." Syndrome replied. "You throw yourself into your work, whatever it is. Every time someone tries to get close, you shove them away." Jane growled at him and he shrugged. "Tell me I lie."

"My _personal_ life is none of your _business_ , Mystic Morgan." Jane jumped to her feet, her growl turning downright feral. Using his real name and rank instead of his handle was a insult.

"You don't _have_ a personal life, Colonel Kelly." Syndrome replied without heat. "You wouldn't know how to do it now. I don't think any of us would. War is all we know, all we are good for." He mused.

Jane barely heard the last bit. She was shaking in rage as she- Something wafted through her. A sense of compassion. A sense of worry. A feeling of... Jane staggered a little as her rage vanished as if it had never been.

"What the _hell_?" Jane half sank, half fell back onto the bunk.

"It seems your passenger doesn't want you to be angry." Syndrome said quietly. "Tell me, did the other squelch it? Is it gone?" Jane stared at the psi. He was curious! Jane could only gape at him as he shook his head. "Please, Shogun." Naked entreaty snag in his tone now.

"Syndrome, I..." Jane lay back down, her head whirling. She examined her feelings carefully. All X-Com soldiers had training to understand their emotions. It helped occasionally in dealing with alien mind control. "It is there. Just receded. I don't... I don't know what this is, Syndrome." The psi sighed and relaxed again. Jane looked at him and then nodded slowly. "You are pushing me."

"I get under your skin." Syndrome was remarkably calm about all of this. "Neither of us intend it, but we do push each other's buttons easily. Every sensor we have is attached or trained on you and me. We need to understand this, Shogun."

"Before..." Jane couldn't finish with the words 'they kill me.'

"That too." Syndrome agreed. "But there was more. I got a sense of urgency from both the boy and the other." Jane looked at him and he made a face. "Nothing more. I didn't think about it until after I couldn't talk to the other anymore. The boy woke up frantic, but Firefly is keeping him calm. He doesn't know _why_ it is urgent. Just that it _is_."

"I _hate_ mysteries." Jane said with such feeling that Syndrome barked a chuckle. Her face split in a reluctant grin as well. "Do you think I can talk to the other without the gunk?"

"I don't know." The psi admitted. "I want you to. I am very curious. This is the first non-violent interaction we have had with a nonhuman." Jane just looked at him and he shook his head. "Shorting your helmet out wasn't violent. They could have torn your _head_ off."

"And invading my body isn't hostile?" Jane wasn't angry. She should have been. Why wasn't she? Was the other doing something?

"It didn't." Syndrome corrected her. "Every scan shows the other form is _outside_ your own skin. It connected to your spine at the back of your skull without breaking your skin." He paused and then continued. "Which is why no one tried to cut it off. The neural shock alone would kill you."

"And we need information more than my peace of mind." Jane slumped on the bunk. "What do I do?" She asked, her tone listless.

"You have done the basic mental training." Syndrome was calm and soothing now, falling back into his profession. "Try talking in your mind. Just your mind."

"I am too keyed up." Jane protested and then she gasped as her body relaxed. "Syndrome!" She begged.

"It wants to talk." Syndrome reassured her. "I am here. I think it is worried about you."

"An _alien_?" Jane tried to put outrage into her voice but it wouldn't come. She was sinking into the hard bunk, every voluntary muscle relaxing.

"Is it?" Syndrome's voice came from far away and then Jane was floating.

 _I mean you no harm, Jane Kelly._ The mind was soft, gentle. It felt female but Jane could not say why it felt that way.

 _What do you want?_ Jane managed to reply the same way It did not come easily.

 _You can speak aloud if you wish._ The other said reasonably. _The others will wish to know what we are saying. They will call for the psi to monitor your mind, a task he finds oppressive._

 _They will anyway._ Jane felt her resistance stiffen, but whatever was holding her flowed around it, softening her edges. _Why did you do that? Trap me?_

 _I needed to talk to a member of your organization._ The other sounded apologetic now. _I did not mean for that to happen. I sent Sam to scout the town, lead you to me when we heard you were coming, because he had been born there. We did not realize how the townsfolk would react. As soon as I realized he was in danger, I called him back. You followed, but not the way we anticipated. You could have died because of my folly._

 _I didn't._ Jane replied, stunned at how easy the speech was now. _Are you doing something to me?_

 _Not intentionally._ The other said after a moment. _But as with any skill, practice makes perfect. No?_

 _What are you?"_ Jane asked. _I have never seen anything like you before._

 _As far as I know, I am unique. I was created as a nurturing force._ The other replied. _The Elders misjudged much about humanity. Not the least of which your drive to be free. But some things they did understand. Humans as a species need to reproduce to survive. They did not want humanity wiped out in its entirety. At least, not then._

 _Then?_ Jane pressed.

 _Things changed._ The other said sadly. _I do not know why. I do not know how. But things changed. My charge remained however. I was not connected to the whole network. They had sundered my connection, intentionally._

 _Why?_ Jane asked. _That doesn't make any sense. If you were not part of their network, you were not under their control._

 _Oh, I was controlled._ The other sounded sad now. _The guards made sure to let me know how controlled I was. I heal faster than a human, Jane Kelly. But I do know pain._ Jane didn't need to ask. She had seen and experienced Advent brutality close at hand too many times to count. _I was not one of them. I was different._

 _Prejudice?_ Jane asked. _How human of them._

 _Indeed._ The other's mental voice was dry. _The irony did not escape me either. But the point was, I had a purpose. I served that purpose. I did the best I could and I loved them all._

 _Them?_ Jane felt odd asking that, as if the other was holding something back. The other did not respond and Jane managed to dredge up irritation. _What are you not telling me?_

 _I do not want to hurt you, Jane Kelly._ The other said quickly. _I can control this form of communication, but I cannot control the output if I let my emotions go. I am what I am. I am not human._

 _But you were made from them._ There was a sudden silence in Jane's mind. _Why?_

 _Jane Kelly, please!_ The other begged. _Do not ask that! Not yet! You are not ready. I cannot buffer you unless we merge closer and I will not do that to you without your permission._

 _If we do not give my command answers they can understand, we are_ **both** _dead._ Jane replied. _There was no room in the war we fought for sentiment._

 _But the ability to feel is what_ **makes** _you human._ The other said weakly. Jane stiffened slightly and the other made a noise remarkably like a sigh. _I... I learned a lot, doing what I did. I make no excuses for my failures. I tried._

 _What did you do?_ Jane demanded.

 _I..._

Jane was jerked right out of her state by an impassioned cry. She jerked upright, staring out of the plastic wall as a familiar boy beat on it with impotent fists.

"MOM! MOM! Let me in!" Sam was screaming at the of of his lungs.

 _ **Mom**_ _?_ Jane stammered in her mind. An utter silence followed, but it was tinged with resignation and sorrow. Something inside Jane cracked, but it wasn't the other's doing. She understood how the boy felt, did she _ever_. Again, she was fourteen and watching her father die. She could not just stand by this time as a form in X-Com armor raised a stunner behind him. She hadn't seen the guard in his shadowed spot. Good man.

"NO!" Jane shouted as the soldier took aim. Everything stopped as Jane stood up. "Sam. Stop. Your mom is fine. You need to calm down."

 _Tell him 'Time out'_. The other offered. Jane sent a wordless thanks. _Point him at a wall. He will go._

"Sam. Time out." Jane pointed to the far wall of the lab near where Syndrome was watching, tense. The boy stared at her and then he turned and did as instructed, his face turning blank. He sat crosslegged in front of it, facing the wall. Jane slumped a little and then shook her head. "How long?" She wasn't asking anyone visible.

 _For that, give him ten minutes. He will need time to calm down._ The other said quietly. _Thank you. That was far kinder than I expected. He is a good kid, but impulsive._ Sam jerked but then nodded a little. He heard her.

"All right. Ten minutes, Sam. This is really, really weird. Even for _us_." Jane complained. Syndrome made a comical face at her and she shook her head. "You hush."

"Shogun." A firm voice had Jane stiffening. Central Bradford stepped into the room, the soldier at the door making way for him. Jane did not miss that he held his rifle with the trigger finger just outside the trigger guard. That meant it was loaded, a round was in the chamber and it was off safe. He was ready to shoot. That comforted her even as fear spiked from the other.

"Central." Jane said slowly. "I have made contact. It.. um... She says she wanted to talk to us. Hence the trap."

"Because sending the boy to talk to us wouldn't have worked?" Central asked as another form in X-Com armor slid into the room. Firefly's face was ashen until she saw Sam sitting in the corner. "And... _she_?" He inquired.

"She." Jane agreed. "I felt a feminine mind. Then Sam called her 'Mom'." She looked at the boy even as Central stared at her. "I don't think she wanted to endanger the boy." At that, every jaw in the now crowded room aside from Jane's and Syndrome's fell. "She said that when she realized he was in danger, she called him back. That is why he ran, I bet. I was supposed to follow him. I didn't do as they expected."

"Do you _ever_?" Syndrome asked with a grin. Central glanced at him and Syndrome bowed his head slightly. Jane would have made an obscene gesture at him but looked at the kid and didn't.

"So... you are talking to the thing now." Central was tense.

"Yes." Jane admitted. She didn't bother defending herself. His rifle would punch clean through the plastic and then clean through her if he chose to fire. She met his gaze calmly. "Much as I hate to admit it, Central, she doesn't seem hostile. Scared yes, hostile no." He looked at her, his face blank. "Sir?"

"We have IDed the DNA." Central said quietly. Jane stiffened and she felt an answering tension from deep inside her. "Ordinarily, it would have taken weeks or months to get a DNA match. But we knew this one."

"Sir?" Jane repeated, confusion warring with fear.

"Her name was Tatyana Maleev." Central said softly.

"She was X-Com."


	4. Chapter 4

**Mind**

 _ **What?**_

The incredulous question came from within even as Jane blurted the same thing. Jane shook her head slowly, holding up a hand in a beseeching gesture. Central nodded, but did not relax.

"You do not remember." Jane said softly.

 _No._ The other said weakly. _My first memories are of pain, fear and confusion. I did not know what I was, what I was for. They made me to do a job, but they did not give me any more information. I had to learn as I did. I made so many mistakes. I hurt some of the ones I was supposed to be protecting. I..._ Her voice broke off. _I am not this Maleev woman._

"No, you are not Maleev." Jane said softly. "But you were made from her. Who was she?" The confined solder asked Central.

"One of the best interceptor pilots we had. Former Soviet Air Forces, then Russian Air Forces. Transferred to us when things got hot." Central was calm and considered. "During the war, she shot down three UFOs. The fourth got her. Her Interceptor went down in pieces. No chance at a parachute."

 _That is not possible._ The other inside Jane protested. _There wouldn't have been enough left of her to make me!_

"Central." Jane asked, ignoring the other for the moment. "Did you know her?"

"Only in passing." Central said quietly. "It was such a mess we took every small victory we could get." He looked away. "She wasn't a people person, but she was a damn good pilot."

"This isn't her." Jane said after a moment. "She doesn't remember being human." The other gave a tiny sob from inside her and Jane tried to comfort the other. She didn't know if it worked or not. "She is very worried about the boy and others. She won't say who. She says it will hurt me if she opens up fully."

 _I won't do that._ The other snapped. _I won't hurt you. I did it before. I didn't know what would happen. He... He went insane. I tried to help but he wouldn't hear me. Won't hear me. He is hurting them. You have to help me! Us!_ This last was an impassioned plea.

"Hold on." Jane shook her head quickly. "Calm down. Take it slow from the top. Syndrome, can you hear her?"

"Barely." Syndrome grimaced. "Lots of other thoughts bouncing in here."

"Clear the room." Central said firmly. The soldiers at the door and the one who had almost stunned Sam nodded and left. Firefly looked at Central and then at the boy who didn't move.

 _He is hungry._ The other inside Jane's mind said softly. _If he knows we are okay, he will eat. I bet he hasn't yet. He has always been stubborn._ Fondness warred with exasperation in her tone.

"Has Sam eaten, Firefly?" Jane asked. The female is stared at her and shook her head. "Sam." Jane pitched her voice low. "You need to eat." He shook his head, still looking at the wall.

 _It hasn't been ten minutes._ The other in Jane's mind heaved a long suffering sigh that was all too human. Syndrome barked a laugh and shrugged as everyone but Sam looked at him.

"Kid was told to sit for ten minutes." Syndrome said with a wide smile. "He obeys orders. Good soldier."

For the first time in recent memory, Jane saw Central almost lose his composure. It was hard to say what his expression would have been since it vanished so quickly, but she was reasonably sure the man wanted to laugh. _She_ sure did.

"Will he bother you?" Central asked. "Will I?" Syndrome looked at Sam for a long moment and then at Central.

"I have to focus to hear his thoughts." Syndrome said after a moment. "I can tune it out. Firefly knows how to keep me out. You... Sir..." He trailed off, unwilling to say what was on his mind.

"I try not to broadcast." Central said quietly.

"You are better than most, Sir." Syndrome said firmly. "I just... Without the alcohol, I can't shut it off. I have enough problems, Sir."

"Would a Mind Shield help?" Jane asked into the silence that fell. The gratitude on Syndrome's face as he looked at her was a bit embarrassing. Central looked at Syndrome who nodded. He wasn't going to _ask_ the second in command of X-Com to wear such a thing to protect himself from one of his own troops. Mind Shields were uncomfortable, but they blocked mental attacks as well as keeping a person's thoughts private from psis who generally did not _want_ to pry.

"Don't do anything." Central said flatly. "I will be right back."

"Sir." Jane nodded sharply and Syndrome did the same. Central strode from the room, reaching for his com. "What can you feel from me, Syndrome?"

"He said not to do anything." Syndrome wasn't arguing, not really. More pro forma than actual debating.

"Don't _start_ , Syndrome. I am requesting information to facilitate my task." Jane kept her face straight as Syndrome goggled at her. Firefly's face split in a grin as her psi mentor started at Jane, fuddled. "Do you sense one mind or two?"

"Two." Syndrome said after a moment of deep thinking. "But the feel is very similar. It wasn't that close a match before. I bet if you two remain connected, the feel will merge. Won't it?"

 _Well?_ Jane asked the other.

 _I do not know._ The other mind inside hers said after a moment. _This is the longest I have remained connected to anyone. The children never-_

 **Children** _?_ Jane pounced on that word. _More than Sam?_

 _Please don't push._ The other begged. _I do not want to hurt you. I know you on a level far deeper than any of the kids. I know your hopes, your fears. I know what you have endured and I grieve with you. I do not want to hurt you!_

 _Why not?_ Jane asked, barely aware when Central came back into the room. When he coughed, she spoke aloud. "Sorry, sir. I had a question I thought was simple to answer. It isn't." She turned away slightly. " _Why_ do you not want to hurt me?"

 _Because you may be the kids' only chance._ Jane actually staggered at the sheer pain that erupted from the other's mind. She barely heard Central querying Syndrome and the psi answering what had been said.

"Shogun." Central pressed and Jane nodded, setting herself.

"We need an explanation. _What_ kids? How _many_? _Where_?" Jane demanded as she sat on the bunk.

 _Human children. Eighty seven of them including Sam._ The other sounded dispirited now. _They are in a bunker deep under the surface not too far from the town. They were -are- my charges. My little ones and I cannot protect them. I failed them._

"Your _charges_?" Central asked after Syndrome filled him in.

 _I was created to tend human children. To teach them what the Elders wanted them to learn._ Jane stiffened, but the other continued. _I taught them as many Earth languages as I could find information for, mathematics, and a grounding in several sciences. They are_ **kids** _, but they are_ **good** _kids. The Elders decided I was leading them astray. I thought they wanted servants. Intelligent and well rounded servants, but servants. They didn't. They wanted_ **soldiers** _. I couldn't do that. And when the Elders sent several Advent to 'encourage' me to teach them different, the kids did not take it well._ The pain in her voice had Jane nearly in tears.

"We always wondered where the kids had gone. Did you teach history?" Central asked when Syndrome finished translating.

 _Some._ The other was calmer, but anger floated under her tone. _Mostly classical history and pre-twentieth century but always geared to their ages. I didn't want them to know what had happened to their parents. Most of them had forgotten the horror. I didn't want to hurt them. So many came to me broken. I wanted to make them whole. I failed so many times._

"Failed how?" Jane asked in a soft voice when Syndrome had finished repeating the silent words.

 _I... I can't... Sam. It has been ten minutes. Help me say it?_ The other asked and Sam rose to his feet, turning to look at the adults with a far too serious expression on his face.

"I was angry." Same said sadly. "So angry. I don't remember why. She took the memories from me. But I remember being angry. She held me close and soothed me to sleep so many nights when I had nightmares. I got better and I love her for being what she is. She did that for all of us, but some..." He looked at the floor. "Some of us were just too far gone."

"I know the feeling." Jane said softly. She and Sam locked eyes and the boy nodded to her.

"Every so often, we would wake up and Mom would tell us one of the others had gone away." Sam said sadly. "Maybe the youngest did not know what that meant, but I did."

"You call her 'Mom'." Central said slowly.

"She did not bear me into the world, Mr. Central." Sam said quietly. "But she has _acted_ as our mom. Protecting us, teaching us, punishing us when we are bad." He frowned. "They hurt her and it hurt us. She took us and hid us."

"She hid you." Central obviously wasn't sure how to take that. "From who? Us?"

"No." Sam replied. "The things in the funny shaped hats that wanted us to think they were human. They hurt her." Hate sang in his tone now and the other inside Jane spoke.

 _Sam, it is_ **over** _._ She said quietly but firmly. _Calm down, please and apologize to Mr. Central._ Central did not react as Syndrome relayed that but Jane was sure his eyes wanted to bulge.

"Yes, Mom." Sam took a deep breath and nodded to Central. "Sorry, Sir."

"It is all right, son." Central said with a matching nod. "I would be angry too."

"She did her best." Sam said after a moment. "She helped us all. It wasn't her fault that some of us couldn't be saved." Jane looked at him and he slumped so far that Firefly laid a hand on his shoulder. "I didn't understand until I found Sara." The pain his voice was heartfelt. "I ran and Mom and Slither had to chase after me." Shame covered the pain now.

"Mom and... _Slither_?" Central asked dubiously.

"Uh..." Sam stammered, obviously caught out.

 _Tell them, Sam._ The other inside Jane said quietly. He stared at Jane and swallowed hard.

"No one is angry with you, Sam." Jane said, just as quietly as the other had. "Who is Slither?" Sam wilted in Firefly's hand and she pulled him close to her.

"She is... a snake woman." Sam said weakly. He recoiled as every human in the area hissed. "She is nice!" He blurted.

"Sam." Jane said slowly. "Let me be sure I have this straight." Her calm tone and matter of fact delivery let him straighten in Firefly's embrace. "Slither looks like a snake. She moves like a snake. She has two arms, a big head and a long tongue."

"She doesn't use _that_ except to play!" Sam was visibly agitated. "She doesn't!"

 _Sam._ The mind inside of Jane's was sad and sick now. _They fought beings like Slither. A lot._ Jane ignored Syndrome filling Central in on what was said as she focused on Sam.

"She is what tore up my helmet." Jane said slowly. "Isn't she?" Sam would not meet her eyes and Jane had her answer. "And the blue stuff? Where did it come from?"

 _He won't answer._ The other said sadly. _He feels ashamed even though all he did was what I asked. Sam! It is my responsibility. Not yours!_

"I threw it on her." Sam said defensively. "I did it." He met Jane's eyes with fire in his now. " _I_ did it." Jane just looked at him and he flushed. " _I_ did it. Blame _me!_ "

"That is not what I asked." Jane said when he wound down. "I asked where it _came_ from." Neither the mind inside hers or Sam replied and Jane sighed. "You are not helping your case."

 _Slither produces it._ The mind inside Jane said after a moment. _They gave me an egg to raise to see if I could socialize the kids to one of their soldiers and it did not work out as they had planned. I taught her with them. They consider her a peer. A friend._ Sam met Jane's gaze firmly even as Firefly choked back a sob when Syndrome related that.

"She produces it." Jane said softly. "Because of something you did?"

 _I think so._ The other replied a bit uneasily. _She isn't a mindless drone. She helped me move the kids when Advent came for them. I cannot move very fast unless I am... er...attached to someone. No offense._ Syndrome barked a laugh as he related that. Firefly was smiling as she hugged Sam and the boy relaxed.

"None taken. Jane said with a grin of her own. "So you are not with Advent."

 _They wanted to take the kids somewhere called a Black Site._ The other had a worried frown in her voice now. Jane froze and the other radiated understanding. _I don't know what that was, but you do._ It wasn't a question. When Syndrome repeated that Central nodded slowly to Jane.

"The kid, sir?" Jane asked. All eyes landed on Sam who flushed. Firefly answered her.

"Sam looks hungry. What say I take him by the mess hall?" The female psi asked Central who nodded. The boy stiffened in instant rebellion.

 _Sam. Go. You need to eat and I don't think you want to hear this. I don't think_ **I** _do._ The mind inside of Jane said firmly and the boy slumped a bit. He let Firefly lead him out of the room. _From what you have said and not said,_ _I assume this Black Site was bad._

"It was." Central agreed after a moment to be sure Sam was far enough not to overhear either psychically or otherwise. His rifle wasn't up anymore, but Jane noticed his finger was still just outside the trigger guard. "Shogun was on medical leave at the time after a bad wound, but when we hit the place, we found out Advent had been kidnapping humans as way to keep the Elders from dying out. Humans were taking into the Black Site in large numbers where they were processed down for their DNA."

 _ **What?**_ The other demanded so shrilly that Jane reached up to clench her head. _Sorry. Sorry._ A wave of relief swept through Jane and she relaxed. _Processed? As in dissolved?_ _They were going to_ **kill** _the kids? I... I heard rumors, murmurs in the network bits I could access, but I didn't_ **believe** _..._

"They did it to thousands of humans. Maybe more. We don't know how many all told." Central replied when Syndrome was done translating. "That was only the first such site. We blew up a number of others."

 _For the first time in my existence, I wish I knew how to curse._ The mind inside Jane said with a snarl. Syndrome barked a laugh at that before he repeated it. Central shook his head as the male psi continued to chuckle.

"Hang around our dear Shogun long enough and you will learn that and a _lot_ more." The psychic said with a chuckle. Jane flipped him off and his mirth grew "See?"

 _All I could do was flee and hide the kids and myself._ The other mind inside Jane said weakly. _I am no fighter. Slither is not either. She is not._ She pleaded. Syndrome was shaking his head as he translated her words into audible speech.

"I wish I could take your word for that." Jane said after a moment. "But you know I cannot." A sense of resignation and sad acceptance came from within her.

 _I know._ The other said. _I just wish..._ She heaved another remarkably human sigh. _I do not want to hurt you and I_ **will** _if I mess this up. If I try to do it against your will. I didn't understand what was involved and I may have doomed them all with my ignorance._

"What happened?" Jane asked when Syndrome finished repeating for Central who eyed Jane.

 _We did not know that the bunker we fled to was occupied._ The other said softly. _A human had been there alone for who knows how long. Years. He was... not very lucid._ Her tone held profound understatement.

"And?" Jane pressed while Syndrome reiterated.

 _I tried to help him like I helped the kids._ The other sounded abject now. _I didn't know. I didn't understand. He was sobbing, screaming as soon as Slither caught him. Some of the newer kids had the same reaction to her and I felt I could calm him. I did not expect what happened._

"He didn't calm down." Central said slowly when Syndrome had filled him in.

 _I_ **thought** _he did. I didn't feel any rage, sadness or anything._ The other said weakly. _It wasn't until he touched one of the girls that I realized he was hiding things from me. I sedated him and calmed the girl._ Jane froze at that, Syndrome also stiffened. When the psi repeated it, Central's eyes flashed.

"He hurt her." The second in command of X-Com said with a growl.

 _I didn't_ **understand** _!_ The mind inside of Janet said quickly. _Luckily, neither did Mara._ _She is only five! I put him in a different area to wake him up. Try to figure out what happened and fix it. But he got loose and tricked both me and Slither into leaving the bunker to chase Sam. By the time we got back he had locked us out._

"Are you saying almost a _hundred_ kids are locked in an underground bunker with a human _predator_? Jane demanded, not waiting for the translation to Central.

 _Yes._


	5. Chapter 5

**Anger**

"Sir..." Jane hissed as Central tried to process the information that Syndrome had just passed to him. Her adoptive father had told her about human predators when she was s child. He had warned her about the dangers of talking to strangers that had existed before the aliens had come. The stories had always given her nightmares. She had thought herself beyond that, but this revelation brought it all back. The other in her mind eased her fear slightly and she send a wordless thanks.

"Shogun, you know we cannot take an unknown mental projection's _word_ for such things." Central said after a moment. "We will send scouts."

 _If you do not know where you are going, the way is very dangerous._ The mind inside of Jane's said quickly. _I can tell you some of it, but parts of it defy easy description._

"We have to do something!" Jane snapped even as Syndrome repeated the inaudible words for Central.

"Shogun, calm down." Central said flatly. "We only have her word for this. You know better."

"I... I do." Jane slumped back on the bunk, her head drooping. "Sorry, Sir. This has not been a good day."

"No, it hasn't." Central agreed. "We will scout the area. For now, Doctor Tygan wants another look at you while you are awake." Jane made a face but nodded, silent.

 _What will happen to Sam?_ The mind inside Jane's asked carefully. Syndrome repeated her words and Central shook his head.

"We are not a daycare." Central said firmly. "We are still facing pockets of Advent resistance and they are far from gone. This ship is not a safe place for a child. The Resistance will find him a foster family." Jane did not react as a mix of relief and pain swept through her. Syndrome looked at her and she shook her head.

"I will wait for Tygan, Sir." Jane said quietly.

"Don't even think of doing anything stupid, Colonel." Central said flatly. "That room is set up to hold you by any means necessary if you try to escape." Jane shrugged. Central looked at her and then at Syndrome who made a face but nodded. Without another word, the second in command of X-Com left the room.

"Shogun..." Syndrome said slowly as Jane lay back and closed her eyes. "Don't..."

" _You_ are the impulsive one, Syndrome." Jane replied without opening her eyes. But she focused her mind tightly and spoke inside it. _What would be needed for you to merge with me?_ A feeling of shock came from the other, followed by worry. _No, don't answer that, he is listening._ She spoke aloud. "The kids, what can you tell me about them?"

 _It would take some time for me to describe each of them._ The other replied, uneasy. _I do apologize for putting you in this position._ Jane cracked her eyes and Syndrome was watching her carefully.

"Not your fault." Jane replied aloud. "I can feel your sincerity, but they are right. They have no way of knowing if you are manipulating me or not. It is the kind of thing Advent would do."

 _They are_ **evil** _._ The other replied. Was it Jane's imagination that Syndrome stiffened at that? _What they did to your people was wrong. What they were going to do to the kids was just as wrong. I wish I could make your superiors understand, but I cannot. All I can do is present my case the best I can. As I said, I am no fighter. I was created to nurture, not cause harm._

Jane stiffened as a barely perceptible hiss came to her ears. She sighed and opened her eyes, looking at Syndrome. Her tone was resigned. "I wasn't going to do anything. Why gas me?"

"That is not authorized." Syndrome jerked up and hit a button on a console nearby. An alarm started blaring. "Damn it! Poison gas! Jane!" He raised a hand and... Where had his Amp come from? What was he doing? Then it didn't matter anymore. She was incurious. Deep inside, she knew she had inhaled a lethal dose of the gas. A scream sounded in her mind, but she was falling back on the bunk and...

She wasn't on the bunk anymore. She was on the floor, loud noises all around her. A hand was behind her head and something cool but with an odd aftertaste was flowing through her nose and mouth. It was familiar. Syndrome must have used a nanomedkit. The smell and taste was distinctive. Someone was shouting commands in the distance. It sounded like Central.

 _Jane! Stay awake!_ The other mind yelled at her even as she fought to close her eyes. She was tired. So tired. A sharp pain on her cheek had her snarling and trying to strike back, but her hand wouldn't move. _I am not going to lose you! Not now!_

Something changed. Jane could not define the change, she was just aware that it was happening. She heard someone curse nearby. Hands held her down as her body spasmed. She expected pain, but nothing hurt. She felt something pulling her and pressed to stop it, but whatever it was accelerated.

 _Easy, Jane..._ The other mind in hers said softly, gently, a kind and worried sense. _Take it slow. Don't rush this. Stop fighting. I won't hurt you. This_ **will** _help._ She promised.

"It's okay, Shogun." Syndrome? Where was he? She couldn't see him. "You will be okay. Let her work. She saved your life."

 _What are you doing?_ She had meant to say that aloud, but her voice wasn't working right.

 _I am taking control of your autonomic nervous system._ The other in her mind had a frown in her voice. _The toxin damaged it and you inhaled quite a bit of it before your compatriot stopped the flow and got you out of the cell. I_ **think** _I can fix this, but it will take some time. Why?_ She wasn't talking to Jane. _Why do this to_ **her** _?_

"Probably because it was the only way to get at _you_. We have a _lot_ of angry people aboard." Syndrome replied, uneasy. "The ship is on general alert now. Central is pissed. I bet the Commander is too."

"Sam." Jane managed to speak and it hurt. A lot. She felt faint and worry surged in her from the other. "Sam is in danger too." She croaked.

"Sam is with Firefly. She took him to meet Lily and see the SPARKs." Syndrome snorted. "Anyone dumb enough to attack him there will get what they _deserve_."

Jane had to smile at that. Lily wasn't shy about voicing her opinions and she brooked no trespass in her domain. Add to that the fact that she _built_ and _tested_ many of the weapons that the teams used in the field and no one _sane_ wanted to face her on her own turf. It would hurt.

"Syndrome..." Jane managed to croak. "I..."

"Easy, boss." Syndrome said gently. "Rest now. You will have a lot of questions to answer, but this wasn't on you." Something stung her shoulder and she was falling, but a gentle voice was singing to her and Jane was smiling as she spun into unconsciousness.

* * *

Syndrome recovered the hypo and discarded it. He stared at the pale form of his fellow soldier and shuddered a little. The orange that had surrounded her was gone. Or, it was no longer _visible_. It was still there.

 _I didn't have a choice._ The mind within Jane sounded desperate and Syndrome shook his head.

"No, you didn't." Syndrome agreed. "The antidote wasn't going to work fast enough. She would have died before the medics got here." He slumped a bit, staring around the lab and the holes he had torn in both his cell and hers with his mind. At the vents that were _melted_. "Commander is gonna be pissed at me."

"Syndrome?" Central had his rifle in hand as he entered the room. He stopped, taking in the scene. "Medic!"

"Gas in her cell. Not authorized. She is alive." Syndrome said flatly. "But the gas was powerful. I couldn't neutralize it outside of myself and the antidote was not working fast enough." Central stared at him and then at Jane, his face paling. "Boss, she is not a threat."

"Prove it!" Central aimed at Jane, but paused as her mouth opened and a _different_ voice answered him.

"I will." The other mind inside Jane said calmly. "If you let me. Jane Kelly is asleep and should remain that way for a time. The poison is a neurotoxin. Not one I am familiar with. It attacked her autonomic nervous system. She wasn't going to survive it. I had no choice. I saved her life by merging with her. This is not how I wanted to do this but I had to save her life."

"Saving yours in the process." Central did not move even as medics came running in. They froze on seeing Jane lying outside her cell and the hole in its wall. A curt gesture from Central had them setting up their gear. Both froze again when Jane's mouth opened and the other spoke.

"True." The other replied. "But I am trying not to be tacky." Syndrome started laughing at that and the medics stared at him as if he were crazy. "She is unconscious. The toxin was attacking her nerves."

"Ah, sir?" The head medic asked carefully. Central shook his head.

"Assume she -it- knows what it is talking about." Central said after a moment. He shook his head. "Did you _have_ to trash the whole lab, Syndrome? You _know_ how expensive this place is."

"They can take it out of my pay." Syndrome was watching the medics like a hawk and neither moved. His eyes narrowed and his Amp was in hand again. It started to glow and _everything_ stopped. "Take your hand _out_ of your pocket, Medic James." Central stiffened at the psi's cold tone and then his gaze transferred to the medic who was frozen in place. His hand _was_ in a large cargo pocket. A pocket far too large for normal medical gear. It looked more like of a concealed holster. Syndrome's voice turned even colder. " _Now_."

"I would do what he says." Central didn't shift much, but his aim point was now covering the medic. "Considering he just used a Null Lance _inside_ the Avenger, I don't think you really want to push him." Disapproval sang inside his tone, but at Syndrome or the medic? Hard to say.

"There was no time for subtlety, sir." Syndrome said flatly as the other medic slowly rose and reached out to pull the frozen man's hand from his pocket. Everything stopped as a Mag Pistol came into view. Syndrome shook his head. "Gas didn't work so you shoot her while she is unconscious? That is _brave_." He mocked.

"Security!:" Central barked and two armored forms appeared at the door. "Take Medic James into custody. Search him and keep him secure. The Commander and I will want to have a chat with him."

"That thing is an alien!" James said with a growl as the security troops took his weapon and then restrained him. "Kill it!"

"That 'thing' is in my teammate." Syndrome replied without heat but he did _not_ lower his Amp. "You wouldn't have killed the other. You _nearly_ killed Jane and the _only_ reason you didn't? The _thing_." The irony in his tone bit deep. "Funny how an alien life form is acting more human than some of _us_." He paused. "Just to be clear, I meant 'sad funny', not 'funny funny'."

James was shouting incoherently as he was dragged from the lab. The other medic ignored Syndrome to bend down and start working on Jane's still form.

"I did not intend trouble within your ranks." The mind within Jane's said sadly. The medic tending her paused and then shook his head, focusing on his work.

"This wasn't your doing." Syndrome replied. "Anger is an inevitable human reaction to stressful situations. Most of us aboard have cause to be angry. What we have seen. What we have done." He shrugged slightly. "We all handle such things in our own ways."

"Yes." The other replied. "Jane is deeply asleep. If you wish to move her, I can keep her that way."

Central looked at the medic who frowned. "Can we move her?" The XO asked.

"Yes, sir. Moving her will not cause any more damage. But sir..."He said quietly. "The AWC cannot be secured."

The Advanced Warfare Center served as the hospital aboard the Avenger. Currently, it was empty. The few fights that the teams had been involved in recently, they had won handily with few injuries of any kind.

"Oh yes it _can_." Syndrome corrected. "You are just not going to like _how_." Central raised his rifle to port arms and shook his head.

"For now, Colonel Kelly is hurt." Central said flatly. "Helping her takes priority. Syndrome, when did you sleep last?"

"Sleep, sir?" Syndrome drew himself up into an arrogant posture. "Sleep is for _wimps_!" Central glared at him and the psi relented. "Been on shift since we got back. Was due to switch out with Firefly in an hour or so. But things got complicated."

"They always do. Tygan is going to want to see her." Central said quietly. "The Commander too. But for now, Syndrome, do not antagonize any more of the medics."

"Only have a problem if they try to kill my team lead, sir." Syndrome replied evenly. Central favored him with a look and Syndrome nodded, accepting the silent rebuke. "Frankly, sir, this is amazing. A nonhuman who is acting human? A kid who calls her 'Mom'? A tame Viper?"

"I get the feeling we are going to need your team up and mobile." Central said after a moment. "Are you capable?" Syndrome thought about that for a moment, giving Central the courtesy of an honest answer.

"I don't know, Sir." Syndrome admitted. "This is the most excited I have been outside of combat since my training. But the voices keep coming back." He sighed. "I am tired, sir. I do need rest and meditation. But Shogun..." He waved to where the medic was cleaning up his gear now.

"Oh, I think she will be safe." Central cracked a very rare smile and Syndrome stared at him. " _Lily_ likes Sam. She promised him to see what _she_ can do." Syndrome eyes went huge and then he smiled as well. It was not a nice smile.

"You don't _say_...?"

* * *

A dream?

Jane wasn't floating. She was sitting on something. The sounds, the smells, she _knew_ them. It had been a long time though. It was very odd but familiar. Even before she opened her eyes, she knew where she was. A large classroom filled with chairs that had desks attached to them. The desk/chairs looked far more modern than nay she had seen as a kid though. She stared down at herself. She was wearing her fatigue uniform instead of armor and she wasn't armed, but it didn't bother her. It should have, but it didn't. There were posters on the walls, but she ignored them for the moment. She was too intent on seeking threats.

"No one can touch you here." A familiar voice sounded and Jane looked up to see a female form standing at the front of the room. It wasn't human, she had no hair and her skin was orange. But the face was human and the smile she wore was wide. Jane returned it. "No one can hurt you here. I won't. I am in control here."

"You saved my life, didn't you?" Jane asked quietly.

"They were trying to kill me." The other replied with a frown. "You were just in the way." But then she shook her head. "I am sorry for not giving you the choice..." She broke off as Jane rose and stepped forward. She went still as Jane threw her arms around the orange form and hugged her tight. "Oh, Jane..."

"Thank you." Jane said quietly as she stepped back. "For the record, I do believe you and I want to help the kids." The other smiled and nodded. Jane stepped back and looked around. "What is this place?"

"This is a mental framework I was given to use when I am teaching the kids." The other replied. "It allows for orderly transfer of information and-" She broke off as Jane jerked. "Jane?" Jane did not respond. Instead, she strode to one wall where a series of posters were blazoned. She reached out to touch one and her eyes misted. "Jane?"

"You teach the kids mathematics, physics and other material based science." Jane said, not taking her eyes from the poster. "You were not supposed to teach them anything else, were you?"

"I suck at teaching art." The other replied, uneasy. "The kind of music I like is not for human ears. Most of it you wouldn't be able to hear. The rest of it, you would probably call random static. But to me it is beautiful. So, languages, history and a few other subjects, yes." Jane turned and looked at her and the orange woman froze at the look of desolation on her face. "Jane? What is wrong?"

"I know what you were supposed to do." Jane said softly. "Part of you is in each kid, right. Just like part is in me?"

"How do you-?" The other started and then broke off, a frown creasing her features. "Yes. It was the best way to teach them. To show them that I was part of them too. They accepted me. Not quickly, but they did. Jane?" She asked as she looked at the poster that Jane turned back to scrutinize.

"These math formula are aerodynamics. These.." She waved to another set. "...are thrust to weight ratios. They did not have you making soldiers. They wanted _pilots_. Hence why they took an exceptional X-Com pilot's DNA to make you. The most powerful weapon you can find is an enemy after all. Use an enemy to fight an enemy. Efficient." Jane said softly, pointing at particular picture. The orange woman stared at it, uncomprehending. "That is a recognition manual image. I know that configuration. We stole a number of Advent manuals and this is how Advent computers mark enemy vehicles."

"I don't know what that image is." The orange woman said weakly. "I never did."

"I do." Jane said softly. "That is an old Raven class X-Com Interceptor. And it is marked with information on flight characteristics, turn speed plus a lot of stuff I don't know. It is marked as an enemy. To be destroyed on sight." She paused, staring at another image. "And this... Holy shit. Did they actually _build_ this?"

"What is it?" The orange woman asked as she studied the boxy form with two engine nacelles on the back and two obvious missiles on either side of a window on the front. But the markings were different. "That is not the X-Com symbol. It is on the bunker we hid in, but I never found out what it is."

"No." Jane replied. "I don't know the markings. But the ship? I do. I studied a lot of known X-Com history as a teen. Before I went into full time training I toyed with the idea of learning to fly. As far as I know, this ship design was never built, too expensive and none of the tech was working when the war turned bad. It was supposed to be an advanced prototype, able to fly into space and challenge enemies out of atmosphere."

"They called it 'The Avenger'."


	6. Chapter 6

**Merged**

Jane opened her eyes and immediately regretted it as pain stabbed through them. She slamme dthem closed again with a wince. A feeling of consternation came from within her, but she soothed the other with a minor flip of mental energy. She wasn't under attack, just uncomfortable. The body scanners used high power lasers that were _supposed_ to be aimed away from her eyes.

"Doctor Tygan." Jane said quietly as the doctor in question worked nearby. He did not respond and she spoke louder. "Doctor Tygan. The lasers are hurting my eyes."

"Oh, sorry, Colonel." The doctor said quickly. Jane could feel the intensity lower. She cracked her eyes and smiled a little, but then her mood darkened as she realized she was strapped down.

"Are these really necessary?" Jane asked as she shifted a little in the bonds that held her wrists, ankles, torso and neck. Something else surrounded the top of her head, but it wasn't holding her in place, more a covering. This wasn't the first time she had been restrained in the AWC. It was standard procedure with X-Com agents who had suffered alien mind control. Tygan looked at her and she realized what she had just thought, then sighed. "Never mind."

"I can find no sign of the alien organism that had surrounded your body." Tygan said quietly. "Do you know where it went?"

 _I took the place of several of your nerves that were damaged._ The mind within Jane's said quietly. _The rest of me is distributed through the epidermal layer of your skin_. _You will be a kilo or two heavier._

Jane started to repeat what had been said and then realized that Tygan was seeing the words on a screen nearby Her eyes flashed as she realized that she was being mindscanned. She sent a wordless apology in her mind and started singing a ribald tune badly off key. A standard X-Com anti-interrogation practice. Tygan spun to stare at her and the angry expression she wore. She finished the verse with a flip of both middle fingers at him and snarled even as the mind within her gasped in shock at her anger.

"How is this going to work, doc?" Jane demanded. "Am I a soldier or a prisoner? I can do either."

She had been captured by Advent once. She did not like remembering that. An X-Com team had rescued her less than a week later, but she had been a mess for a time. Advent did not muddle around when it came to interrogations. Jane had nearly broken, but she had managed to hold out long enough for rescue. She didn't fool herself into thinking that she could have held out much longer. It wasn't possible.

"Warned you." A familiar voice laughed and Jane's eyes narrowed as her teammate Feedback strode into view. The team medic looked tired, but she was a sight for sore eyes. "I am going to release you now. Okay, Shogun?"

Jane nodded and relaxed, not taking her eyes from Tygan who stood watching, silent. The doc creeped Jane out. He wasn't Advent now. She knew that as well as any other X-Com trooper. But his mannerisms were so like the ones who had interrogated her that it took a great deal of effort not to lash out every time she encountered him. The mind within Jane soothed her a little and she accepted it. Fighting wouldn't get her anything here.

"Wanted to make sure I am still me." Jane said quietly as Feedback worked. "I get it. Unpleasant as hell, but I get it." Her fellow soldier helped her sit up and the bed inclined to support her. "While I slept, I talked to my passenger." Feedback and Tygan both looked at her and Jane made a face. "I need to talk to the brass."

"You don't _like_ talking to the brass." Feedback commented as she took a seat nearby. She wasn't armed, Jane noticed, but two SPARK units stood by the doors to the AWC, both armed with heavy autocannon. 'Enthusiastic Overkill' might have been X-Com's unofficial motto.

"And I don't like _this_ either." Jane replied, turning to look at Tygan who was studying her closely. "Doc have you examined Sam?"

"Yes." Tygan made the one word both statement and question.

"There is a bone spur on the back of his head." Jane said quietly. "And one on the back of mine. It wasn't there when I had my last physical." Tygan was very tightly controlled. The only mark of surprise was a slight widening of his eyes. "It is not connected to any nerves that you can find, it is just _there_. It is not a connection, it is an opening to _make_ a connection. A hardwired one."

"How do you know this?" Tygan asked. "You can't see it and you haven't been touching your skull."

"Out here, I haven't been." Jane corrected. "Like I said, while I slept, I talked with the other... I need to give her a name. This whole 'other' thing is getting old." A sense of amusement came from within her but the other did not speak. "Anyway, we talked quite a bit. She did not know what she was intended to do, so she taught the kids a general grounding. That wasn't what her masters wanted." Jane could see the skepticism in the other's faces and she nodded. "Look, I know this sounds crazy. We both agree, it _is_ crazy. But we think we have the basic idea fleshed out. We need to talk to Central, Lily and the Commander as well as you, doc."

"Central, Lily, the Commander _and_ the doc?" Feedback asked. Jane nodded. "I hope you know what you are doing."

"Yeah." Jane agreed even as Tygan reached for the com. "Me too."

* * *

Thirty minutes later

It hadn't been quick and Jane felt the time passing in agonizing snippets, but the other within her helped keep her calm even as the AWC filled up. Lily came first and her smile as she saw Jane awake was a welcome thing. Jane hadn't been sure how Lily would react to this 'possession' that had befallen the soldier. She needn't have worried. Lily looked tired, but her eyes were clear and her face unworried.

Central arrived next and he was shaking his head as he entered. "The Commander was called away to a meeting offship." He explained. "The resistance wanted a physical presence." Jane tensed and Central waved her to relax. "Hollywood took a full team as well as two SPARKs. We won't make the same mistakes again."

"Good." Jane relaxed a little but only a little.

The Commander was the lynchpin that held X-Com together. Having a small faction within the Resistance in South America _demand_ that the Commander become dictator and rule them all and _then_ threaten physical force when denied while the leader of X-Com was visiting had been a _very_ rude shock. The teams had taken a very dim view to hostage taking. No one had died on either side, but that had been because the teams had _utterly_ outclassed the opposition. None of Jane's team had fired a shot even when fired on, they had used clubbed weapons and stun grenades to take their sector by storm. One sniper had fired a shot to disable a rocket launcher that a Resistance fighter had managed to procure somehow. That fighter would be in the hospital for some time, but better second and third degree burns from the explosion of the rocket's propellant than _dead_. Rules had been changed so the Commander never left the ship without armed escort now. They hadn't thought they needed it. Silly. Humans had been killing other humans long before the aliens had shown up.

"You called us here, Shogun." Central said firmly. "What do you have?"

"A lot of questions." Jane admitted. "But a few answers. Sir, first question is for you. Do you know a symbol that is a red hexagon with red and black marks inside?" She stared as Central paled. "Sir?"

"Describe the marks." Central's tone was pure command. The others looked curious, but no one interrupted.

"A small black four pointed star centered in a red field at the bottom. A half circle with a full circle centered in red on a black field at the top." Jane said slowly. Central shook his head, obviously distressed and she had confirmation. But she needed it aloud. "You know it."

"Bad business during the war." Central said after a moment. "A human group who were trying to seize power. They fared worse than we did. They called themselves EXALT and they were wiped out a week or so before we were taken off the board." Old pain sang in his tone and then was gone.

"Humans?" Jane asked, confused. "Fighting _for_ the aliens?"

"No." Central looked as if he wanted to spit."From what we gathered, they wanted to use the alien tech to seize power for themselves. They altered themselves quite a bit genetically. Dr Vahlen was very disturbed by what they did to themselves."

"This is the _same_ Vahlen who played goddess by tinkering genetically with alien eggs." Jane replied and Central nodded, his face grave.

That revelation had not been fun. Being hunted by alien rulers had been less so. It had been one of those -the Berserker Queen- that had caused Jane's capture by Advent, knocking her unconscious too far from support to be extracted before the rest of the team had to abort. She took great pleasure in wearing the skin of that particular ruler after it was made into armor. The mind within her gasped at the ferocious feelings of bloodlust from Jane and the soldier moderated them with a nonverbal apology.

"Where did you see the symbol?" Central demanded.

"If you ask Sam, he will tell you it is all over the bunker where she hid the kids." Jane replied evenly. "Where they found _one_ insane human holed up." Central looked at Tygan who frowned. "Doc? Would it be possible to genetically modify someone to survive for that long alone and underground?"

"I want to say 'No'." Tygan admitted thoughtfully. "But what little we know of genetic manipulation comes from the aliens. It probably _is_ possible, but like you describe, it _would_ cause long term mental instability in any human. What did this EXALT group do?" He asked Central.

"What _didn't_ they do is a shorter list." Central actually growled in annoyance. "They sabotaged our missions, attacked our people, hacked our research and tried to incite fear and distrust in places we were trying to protect." Lily looked shocked but Jane just nodded.

"So they wanted to rule the world." Jane asked and Central nodded. "They may have hidden this bunker on the idea that the people inside would rise up after a time to take over."

" _If_ there had been any humanity left for them to rule." Lily said flatly. Jane nodded to her. "That is why Tygan and Central, Jane." She never used soldier's ranks, preferring to call them by name. Jane found she liked the engineers informality. Most of the time. "Why me?"

"I am going to describe the image of a specific craft to you and I would like to know if you think you have seen anything like it." Jane took a deep breath and described what she had seen in the dream. Tygan looked blank but both Lily and Central exchanged a glance. Jane sighed in relief. "You have. I -we- were not sure it wasn't just Advent propaganda."

"Where did you see that?" Gone was the smiling, sometimes bubbly Lily. Instead, this was a driven woman.

"There were two recognition posters on the wall of her mental teaching space." Jane explained. "One showed an X-Com Raven Interceptor. The other showed the craft i just described and it had the marks I described." Central actually paled as Lily cursed softly. "Both were marked as enemies."

"EXALT couldn't have _built_ that!" Central protested. " _We_ could never get it to work! There is no way _they_ did." Jane looked at Lilly who was staring off into space, obviously thinking hard. "Lily?"

"A basic prototype managed to get flying but not much more. This ship is named for that prototype. It was based off a design from the 90s that never got off the drawing board." Lily said softly. "It was never listed as destroyed, Bradford. I remember dad talking about it, how it had simply vanished one day with a full experimental weapon's load. A missile system and something called a 'Plasma Beam'. I remember him talking about that loss."

"I do remember that, vaguely." Central said after a moment. "That was just before the base was attacked and we lost it all. We figured it either went down or was shot down."

"What if it was stolen by EXALT?" Jane asked and the others looked at each other. "They couldn't build it, so they stole it?"

"That was their usual method. Wait for someone to make something and steal it. But if it was only a prototype..." Central mused, scratching his chin absently. "Lily?"

"I don't know." The engineer admitted. "I only remember the one conversation. It was intended to fly outside the atmosphere, but I do not think that functionality was installed." She shook her head. "Why? What is the bother?" All the others looked at Jane who frowned.

 _Tell them._ The mind within hers said quietly. A screen flashed and all the others looked to see those words printed on the screen. Jane snarled at them, but her heart wasn't in it. _They cannot trust me, Jane and they cannot trust_ **you** _while I am_ **inside** _you. Tell them what we discovered. Let them draw the conclusions they will._ Again, the words printed out on the screen.

"I wondered how you would keep tabs on her." Jane tried not to sound bitter. She failed.

 _Calm down, Jane._ The other reprimanded her gently. _They are doing their job. Your job._ Lily stared at the screen and then smiled at Jane who felt her heart lighten a little. _If you do not protect yourselves, how can you protect humanity?_

"You are _so_ hard to defend, Miss Always Right." Jane retorted even as the others read the words on the screen. The other laughed inside her mind and Jane relaxed a little more. "Ok. Geez. Whatever." She took a deep breath and worked to calm herself. When she spoke again, it was calm and clear. "Let me lay out what we know. The being whose mind is now merged with mine was created to teach a group of human children. She was not part of the alien psionic network, but she could get glimpses of it from time to time. She was given a set of tools to train the kids, tend them and a basic grounding in human history and science. She taught them to obey orders and until Advent hurt her, to obey _them_. But not just that. Every kid she has, she implanted the bone spur in, just like she did me. It is not something she does consciously. It was built into her, just as it was built into her to be nurturing. To gain the kid's trust and teach them the best she could."

"Why would the aliens bother?" Central asked. "They outclassed us in almost every regard."

"Almost." Jane repeated. "Tatyana Maleev, you told me she shot down three UFOs. Did anyone else manage that?" Central shook his head. "There you have it. They wanted a counter in case humanity had more like her."

" _Pilots?_ " Lily demanded. "Sam is what? _Five?_ "

 _He was four according to the records I got when he was brought to me._ The mind inside of Jane said quietly. The words showed up on the screen and everyone watched as she spoke that way. _I don't know how or why, but none of them grow. None seem to age at all. I took him in as I always did. I made him welcome and taught him the best I could. But I never realized_ **what** _I was teaching them._ Jane felt her eyes fill from the pain in the other's mind. She sent a soothing thought of her own back and the other relaxed. _I never realized they were intended to be disposable_ **weapons** _._ The hate in her tone had Jane jumping.

"Calm down." Jane said sharply. The others looked at her oddly and Jane sighed. "Not any of you. Her. The one in my mind. She feels very strongly for the kids."

"Sam is a good kid." Lily said softly. "How old is he, really?"

 _He has been with me for almost twelve years. So he is fifteen._ The other replied and Lily hissed as the words appeared on the screen. _I never thought about why none of them grew any bigger until now._

"We need to know, Central. I recommend-" Dr. Tygan began only to be cut off as Jane and Lily both exclaimed as one.

"You are _not_ dissecting that kid!" They chorused angrily. The soldier and the engineer looked at each other and then at Central who nodded.

"Not happening." Central agreed. "That said... Tygan has a point too." Jane tensed, but Central wasn't done. "No, Shogun. Not any that are alive. But she said before that some of the kids perished?"

 _I lost fourteen of them._ The mind inside Jane's was sad now. _Some were hurt too badly to heal. Others got sick despite everything we could do. Four took their own lives._ The pain in the other's mental voice made Jane want to weep. _The last, Misa, was a good kid. Quiet, but always helpful and considerate. She was just so hurt. Radiation I think. Nothing I tried worked! All I could do was ease her pain!_

"It is all right." Jane said softly as the words on the screen ended. "If there is _one_ thing we at X-Com know, it is loss."

"Give us the location." Central said after a moment. "We will recover the bodies for Tygan. And doc?" He turned to Tygan who eyed him."Be gentle."

"So... These kids are supposed to be pilots." Lily shook her head. "What good does that do _us_?" She paused as Jane pointed to the screen.

 _Could X-Com use an air force?_


	7. Chapter 7

**Thoughts**

"You are devious." Lilly hadn't left when Central and Tygan had. Indeed she perched on a counter nearby, her legs kicking like a schoolgirl. Jane smiled at her but it was melancholy. The other's sorrow was still with her. "You _knew_ how Bradford would react to the idea of X-Com forces in the air again."

"It wasn't my idea." Jane admitted. Lily looked at her, jaw dropping. "Well, where else can they _go_? None of them remember their families."

 _Most lost their families through Advent action. While I do not want them to fight and perhaps die doing so, I want them hurt by Advent again less._ The words from to the mind inside Jane were soft, tinged with deep seated sorrow. _I wanted them to focus on the future, not the past. I let them forget and encouraged them to. I let them learn and grow as they saw fit._

Lily looked at the words that appeared in the screen and nodded. "That was kind."

"Would _you_ want to forget?" Jane asked. Lily shook her head and Jane sighed. "Some things I would, some... no." Lily looked at her and the two shared a moment of reflection. Then Jane broke the silence. "I never saw an aircraft carrier in real life, only pictures, but they were _big_. The Avenger is too small to carry anything larger than the Skyranger. So, ideas?"

"Until we get some idea of what the kids..." Lily broke off and grimaced. "I want to call Sam a kid, but he isn't one, is he?"

 _None of them have had what anyone might call a normal life._ The words on the screen drew both sets of human eyes. _None of them have grown up. However old they may be, they are still children, Lily Shen._

"And you would be willing to send them into battle?" Lily asked carefully, watching Jane's face and the screen.

 _Willing? No._ _I do not want that. But they are not my slaves. They are my children._ Jane shook her head at the feelings from the other. Such deep conflict couldn't be put into mere words on a screen. _I know Sam for one would choose to fight. He has always been brave nearly to the point of foolhardiness._

"He is a good kid." Lily said softly, her eyes far away.

 _His anger has faded._ The mind inside Jane said softly. _But he does feel the need to protect others. That is why he left the bunker. He felt that the man was a threat to the others and led him on a chase right out of the bunker. Slither and I followed, only to find the human had doubled back and locked us all out. I pray he has not overcome the locks I placed on the children's quarters._

"You pray?" Lily asked, curious.

 _Probably not the way humans would._ The other replied. _But I do offer up concerns or wishes to higher powers. Just not the Elders anymore._ She pasued. _That was a joke._

"You need to work on that." Jane said with a grin as Lily groaned. "Text jokes can be hard to comprehend and I am the only one who can hear your voice without psi powers."

"Is that because of the blue stuff your team reported or because she is inside you?" Lily asked. Jane looked at her and Lily held up a hand. "Hey, we are all curious."

 _'The blue stuff' as you call it is a psionic conductor._ The mind inside Jane's replied. _Slither produces it. You do not want to know how._ Lily and Jane both made faces and nodded. _After this merge, I will probably be able to talk to Jane with close proximity even after I leave, but I cannot control her._

"You can't?" Jane asked, dumfounded.

 _Trust me, there were times I wished I could have taken complete control of certain of the kids._ The emotion from the other was complex. Resignation, a little anger, some sadness, it was a confusing mix. _As you said before, they were programmed to obey, but that didn't mean they always did as I wished when I wished. They are kids, not robots._

"Well that is a good thing, I think." Lily shrugged. "But I think I will stick with my bots. They do as they are told, right guys?" She looked at the SPARKS who both nodded to her.

"Colonel?" A female engineer geared as a medic stepped into view. Her name badge read 'Samuels'. "We need to run a set of scans. Doctor Tygan's orders." She froze as Lily growled. Both SPARKs lowered their cannon into firing position. "Ah..."

"I am going to check." Lily said flatly as she turned to an intercom.

"Lily?" Jane asked, concerned.

"One of the medics gassed you." Lily said flatly. "If not for your passenger, you would be dead." She spoke into the intercom quickly, too low for anyone to hear.

 _The psi you call Syndrome helped._ Jane's passenger said into the silence as Jane tried to digest that. _He stopped the gas and got you out of it._

"Lots of angry people aboard this ship." Jane said softly. "I am one of them. I can see why someone might want you dead. I got caught in the crossfire."

 _Hard to deny you the right to your anger._ The words on the screen caught the frozen engineer's attention and she stared from the screen to Jane who smiled a bit grimly.

"My passenger seems far more even tempered than I am." Jane relaxed when Lily did. "I call her 'she', but that is just because she tended a group of kids, acted as their mother. And like any mother, she is _very_ protective of them."

"And the boy? Sam?" Engineer Samuels asked as Lily made a gesture and the SPARKs resumed their guard posture, weapons swinging away from her.

"He was one of hers." Jane admitted. "They needed to talk to one of us, so they used Sam to lead me to a trap. Not a harmful one though." She said quickly as the engineer's face turned angry. "Think about it. Could _any_ kind of alien just _walk_ up to one of us and _ask_ our help?" The engineer scoffed at that and Jane nodded. "They could have hurt me. They didn't."

"It could be a trick." Samuels said slowly.

"It could be." Jane admitted. "We talked about the possibility while I slept." Samuels stared at her, wide eyed. "Advent was and is _nothing_ if not sneaky. She doesn't _think_ this is a plot by them. But she is not sure. So, caution is warranted." She turned to Lily. "Lily...the doc?"

"He ordered scans." Lily confirmed. "For you and Sam. Full set for you." Jane groaned and Lily nodded in commiseration. A full series of scans were _not_ pleasant. "Yeah."

"I better sleep through that." Jane said with a sigh. Samuels smiled at her and nodded. "Do me a favor, Lily. Check on Sam?"

"I will." Lily promised. But then she turned to the engineer. "A word of advice, doc. We are watching." Then she was gone.

 _I did not mean to cause unrest in your group._ The other said weakly in Jane's mind.

The words on the screen had the engineer relaxing a little more. She took a step forward and relaxed fully when the SPARKs did not react. Jane just lay back with a resigned expression as the engineer started working.

"Can you knock me out?" She asked the other. The engineer paused and then looked curious.

 _I can promote relaxation, but physically? No._ The other replied. _I do not have the power or knowledge to do it safely in any but the kids. These scans are bad?_

"Uncomfortable." Jane replied even as the screen showed the previous words. "Doc?"

"We do not know the extent of changes to your nervous system. Hence the scans. But Tygan did a basic workup. I know which sedatives will work." The engineer reassured her.

"And to think once I hated _needles_." Jane quipped as the engineer prepared an injection. A laugh came from inside her and the engineer smiled as she stepped close.

"You two talk while asleep?" Samuels was good. Jane barely felt a pinch and then warm numbness swept across her.

"Kind of hard to get her to shut up at times." Jane had to smile at the sputtering noise inside her and then she was asleep.

* * *

Not very nearby

"I am scared." The words had Lily freezing as she stepped into the research lab. Tygan was working on something near one wall and Sam lay in a horizontal cylinder of glass near another. He wore a pair of shorts that looked thin and nothing else but a scared expression.

"We won't let anything happen to you." Firefly stood by the cylinder even as light started playing inside it. Sam jerked, but relaxed as nothing apparently hurt. "See? It doesn't hurt."

"The Advent did things like this to some of us." Sam said with a gulp. "Then they were angry and hurt Mom."

"Sam, we need to know what was done to you." Firefly said quietly. "I am here. I won't leave." Something in her tone sounded less than professional to Lily, but the engineer did not react or speak as the lights in the tube increased in intensity.

"We are not lying to you." Sam begged as the light became blinding. His face was scrunched up in a grimace, but he didn't seem in pain. Tears started to fall.

"I know, Sam." Firefly's voice held sorrow as Sam cried. "I can feel your mind, I know you believe what you say. But the Advent are sneaky. We have to be sure. Just tell me instantly if anything hurts, okay?" She turned to look at Lily and the psi's face held desolation.

"This is incredible." Tygan's voice had both of them turning to stare at him "The boy's body is in pure stasis. Everything is in _perfect_ equilibrium. If I can isolate the cause..."

"Doc!" Lily's sharp word had Tygan freezing. He spun to look at her and she indicated the tube where Sam was crying harder. He frowned but nodded and hit a control. The lights inside the tube died.

Firefly was in motion even before the tube opened. As soon as it was open far enough, she had Sam in her arms consoling him as he sobbed.

"I am sorry." Sam pleaded. "I am sorry. I know you need to see everything, but I can't. It doesn't hurt, but I can't. I don't know why, but I can't stop crying!"

"It is all right, Sam." Firefly said gently holding him. "I can feel your mind. It is not you. It is something deep. A memory or fragment of one." Lily and Tygan both stared at the psi and then at each other.

" _I don't wanna remember!_ " Sam buried his face in Firefly's chest as he bawled. "Lousy Advent! They... what did they do to me?"

"Easy, Sam." Firefly soothed the boy with gentle massage and apparently with her mind as well. Her eyes were glowing as if she were using her powers anyway. "Rest now." The boy slowly relaxed, gave a tiny hiccup and fell asleep in her arms. The look she turned on Tygan was hard and the doc froze. "I could make sense of some of it but it is all fragments. Humans in medical garb and Advent uniforms. A tube like this one. A female voice he associated with comfort screaming his name and then suddenly silenced." Lily had a hand over her mouth as the psi spoke. "Then he woke up in _her_ care. We will not make him remember this again."

"We need..." Tygan started and broke off as Firefly straightened, Sam cradled to her chest.

"He is already _incredibly_ stressed." Firefly said quietly as she rocked the still form in her arms. "Any more might flip him over the edge into insanity. What _right_ have we to make him unhappy if it is not needed?"

" I will go to the Commander if I have to." Tygan warned.

"You do that. Let me know how that works out for you." Firefly turned and started for the door. Lily followed her. Both ignored Tygan's sputters. The psi shook her head as she looked at Lily. "I am not rational about him."

"He looks like a little kid." Lily offered. "For all intents and purposes, he _is_ a little kid. Now as to _why_ the Advent wanted small forms trained as pilots... I don't know. Both Jane and the one inside her seemed to think that whatever plan was in place was discarded and the kids were going to be sent to a Black Site."

Firefly froze, her face suddenly blank. Lily nodded. Firefly had been part of the team that had hit the first Black Site. What they had found there had driven the psi into dark places in her own psyche. She had come back with help, but she wasn't the same. No one was.

"I see." Firefly sighed and held Sam close. "He will need a shower and a bed. There aren't a lot of bunk spaces available." She shook her head. "The psi quarters are the best bet, quiet and secure but Reverb would flip."

Psi Operative Minjun Seung -handle Reverb- was not a nice person at the best of times. His arrogance got taken down a notch on a weekly basis and he just kept pushing. He was new to the team. Both Syndrome and Firefly had strong reservations about the younger psi. He wasn't controlled enough to survive a combat with a Sectoid, let alone an Ethereal. He demanded respect and no one was giving it to him because he hadn't earned it. Things would come to a boil. Soon. Hopefully not with a kid nearby.

"Let me handle Seung." Lily worked to keep her voice level it was hard. She hated Advent and their alien masters with all of her being. But Sam and his mother were not with them. Were they? Firefly looked at her and the two women shared a smile.

"Part of me almost feels sorry for Reverb." Firefly's smile became a grin that Lily shared as well. "On second thought? Nah." She turned towards the psi quarters.

"Get him bedded down." Lily said with a smile. "I think our friend Seung will be needed to help repair the psi lab after what Syndrome did to it."

"Oh, that is _vicious_." Firefly was grinning widely now as they walked. "Not only do you make him actually get his hands dirty, but you rub it in that he isn't as trained as Syndrome."

"You cannot demonstrate some of the most powerful abilities on the ship." Lily paused. "Unless you are James and someone is _dying_."

"Thank you, Lily." Firefly said with feeling. "I know we psis make you nervous."

" _You_ don't." Lily smiled a little wistfully. "James doesn't when he is sober." Firefly winced at that but nodded. It was simple truth. "Seung? He _does_."

"Me too." Firefly admitted. "I don't _care_ what he went through before. He isn't where he was. If he keeps acting out here, he will keep getting stepped on. Sooner or later, someone will do more than bruise him." The younger psi would learn not to antagonize his squad mates or he would die. Simple.

"We need you." Lily agreed. "Heaven knows we need more of you. But that guy gives me the creeps."

"You are not the only one." Firefly touched the hand scanner that locked the way into the psi quarters and froze as an irate voice sounded from within.

"Where are you going with _that_?" The male voice snapped and Lily stepped past Firefly to scowl into the darkened area.

"Ah, _there_ you are Minjun." Lily said with a smile that was _anything_ but friendly. "I need a psi to help repair the lab. You are up." A quick twist of her wrist and two gremlins shot out of vents nearby to hover near her shoulders. A _very_ pointed hint that being polite was wise.

"Ah..." The arrogant male voice spluttered but he had learned his lesson about disrespecting the chief engineer. He still treated _every_ toilet on the ship as if they were about to attack him. Wise of him. Then again, when one called the chief engineer of a ship a 'whore' and worse, one got what they deserved even before the _rest_ of the command staff had gotten involved.

Lily started off and a small man followed her out, eyeing Firefly and her burden without comment. Firefly stared after him and gave a sniff.

"'That' indeed, you _foul_ excuse for a person." She murmured as she entered the psi quarters. She paused as the door to her room opened and Syndrome stood there, eyes red with fatigue, but his smile wide.

"I cleared Hazard's stuff, put fresh sheets on the bunk." Syndrome said softly. "Didn't think there was anywhere else on the ship you could put him."

"I would have done it." Firefly protested even as she felt a surge of warmth for her fellow veteran. Psi Operative Jenni 'Hazard' Parker had been bunked with Firefly. Jenni had died in the final assault on the alien fortress. She knew Syndrome blamed himself for the loss even though no one else did. When one got blindsided by a Sectopod, there wasn't much anyone could do. Firefly had been on the injured list so the lesser trained psi had taken her place with the team. Jenni hadn't come back. The hole she left in their lives and minds still hurt.

"I know. I was free and I am not Minjun." Syndrome replied with a smile that faded as he looked at Sam. "How bad?"

"Bad." Firefly said sadly as she laid Sam down on the bunk and covered him with a sheet. "Like you thought, he is a psi, but whatever they did... It hurt him, inside. Doc Tygan says his body is in stasis. Kid remembered bits. Hopefully they won't be coherent, but I will ward him until we know for sure."

"Thanks. If I could do this, I would." Syndrome said softly, his eyes on the small form in the bunk. "But I am not... whole anymore. Can you handle it if he emerges?" Brand new psis had all kinds of problems when they realized their talents for the first times outside of strictly controlled environments.

"I will have to." Firefly replied. "Certainly not going to let _Minjun_ train a new psi if it comes to that."

"That is because you have _brains_ in your head." Syndrome smiled at his colleague. "Unlike _some_. I better get some rest. I bet tomorrow is going to be a doozy."

"And they say psi cannot tell the future." Firefly smiled with Syndrome and settled down by the bunk to watch. She bet the boy would have nightmares and she was equipped to handle them. "Do you think all of the kids that were with him are talented?"

"Wouldn't put it past them." Syndrome shook his head and then left the room.

"Me neither."


	8. Chapter 8

**Dreams**

Jane was not awake, but she was not asleep either. It was odd but she was not afraid. She had seen so much strangeness in her time with X-Com that a little oddness here and there seemed more or less ordinary to her. Which was odd in and of itself. She sighed and rolled with it, it was all she could do.

On some level she was aware that the other intelligence inside her was busy doing something. On another, she could feel the scans progressing. She was very happy _not_ to feel them in their entirety. But there was something else calling to her. Something she didn't know, but it was familiar. A little girl crying?

Jane listened for a time -it might have been minutes or centuries, there was no way to tell- and then she sighed and focused herself. She wasn't as empathic as some, she was no psi like Firefly or Syndrome. But she was a good observer. One of the major facets of her normal job was observation. Get in, get information on enemy numbers, weapons and such, and then send that information to her teammates so they could act. Simple. At least, in theory. Things _rarely_ stayed simple once the railgun round and plasma started flying. Whoever was crying was young, or sounded it, and in physical pain. That wasn't the sounds of some teenager sobbing from a lost love. No. This was the sound of someone who was being hurt. She knew those sounds far too well.

She wasn't sure about this, so she tapped the other mind inside hers in a way that she couldn't have possibly described. A sense of worry came to her and then the other was there.

"Jane?" Here the other mind was much clearer to her senses. "You shouldn't be awake."

"I am not." Jane replied. "I don't think anyway. But I hear a child crying. It isn't anyone I know." She could not have missed the sudden apprehension in the other if she had been blind and deaf. "Can you hear it?"

"No." The feminine touch enveloped her and Jane did not resist. It said something for the trust the two had developed for each other over the last few days that Jane did not freak out with another mind seeping through hers. Or something. The mental feel seemed to stiffen. " _Maya_?"

" _Mom! Help!_ " The voice suddenly screamed and Jane snarled, a feeling matched by the other within her.

Something happened and Jane was suddenly standing in a large room straight out of some twisted person's fantasy. A little brown haired girl was strapped to a table-like machine that had far too many nasty looking arm things attached to it to be healthy. Saws, blades, suction cups and other things that Jane knew would give her nightmares were attached to those arms. The familiar orange form was standing beside Jane as she took in the scene. The room was bare except for the machine and the girl who was crying and writhing as a power flared around a half helmet like thing that covered her temples. She screamed loud and long as power flared. Aside from the helmet, she wasn't wearing anything and Jane's blood boiled. But something was wrong. There was nothing else in the room except for the machine and the crying girl. During Jane's imprisonment by Advent, she had _never_ been left alone. Not even in a _cell_. And if the machine was running... Who was _running_ it? Was it automated? No. It had cables going out from it, but to where?

"Maya!" The orange form stepped forward, but stopped as Jane held a hand in front of her. "Move! I have to help her!"

"This isn't right." Jane said slowly. "Don't move. Maya! We are here. Hold on, girl." The girl didn't seem to hear them, crying as the power ebbed. Another arm with a decidedly phallic end descended towards the girl and Jane shook her head "Oh no. Enough. This is a dream. Maya is in an induced dream."

"What?" The orange female demanded and then made a soft noise of despair. "She didn't... Oh no... Maya, no."

"This _I_ can handle." Jane said flatly and the other turned to stare at her. Jane felt calm. "In humans, dreams are images pulled from the subconscious to the fore of a sleeping mind. They can be either good or bad. They can hurt you when you have been hurt, warp you, twist you. Especially when directed. _If_ they are left unchecked. Maya, close your eyes." This was a command and the orange form shied away as Jane shifted. "This is a dream and _I_ am in control of _my_ dream."

Where before a woman in a patient gown had stood, now she wore X-Com Warden armor. The Storm Gun in her hands whirred as she chambered a plasma round without even glancing at it and the familiar feel of a blade on her back was comforting. She could feel the heat of it even when dormant and knew that her Fusion Blade would be ready if she needed it. She doubted she would. Not for this.

"Jane... wha-?" The orange form was cowering away from her as Jane slowly turned, every sense sweeping the room, tracking the cables, settling on an area where the cables vanished.

"Get ready to get her out of that thing." Jane said flatly. "This is a representation of her mind. Someone is trying to warp her. But he has to be- "

Something moved that she couldn't quite see. She brought her weapon to her shoulder and fired in one sinuous movement. The multiple bursts of plasma raced across the room faster than most eyes would have been able to follow and slammed into something that wasn't visible. A short, sharp scream sounded even as a scorched console appeared and a human form jerked away from the burning material, small fires smoldering all over his... his attire?

The human wore an odd set of clothing. Dark pants, a white shirt with a blue vest and an odd red thing that came down his front from the neck. Was that a 'tie'? But it was the red bandana that covered the lower half of his face and the red and brown _on_ the bandana that had Jane drop her Storm Gun so it retracted on its sling to hang out of the way next to her and draw her Fusion Blade.

"This is a dream." Jane said in a conversational tone as she stalked forward. A crash came from behind her and she ignored it. The man didn't seem to see her, he was batting at his smoldering clothing. He didn't seem to be visibly armed. His mistake. "Too bad for _you_ that after my own experiences, I had a _lot_ of bad dreams and went to some people to learn how to handle them." The man finally looked up just in time for Jane's perfectly timed slice to cut his right arm clean off above the elbow. The blade worked as always, cauterizing the wound neatly. "Torturing a _kid_? How _low_ can you **_get_**?"

"You... No..." The man stared at her, eyes huge above his bandana. "X-COM! NO!" His left arm flashed toward a holstered pistol at his waist. Jane had been watching though and her second strike sent his _left_ hand flying and he slumped to the floor, hugging himself with his ruined arms. "You will ruin _everything_ , you stupid cow!"

"Shut up, EXALT. You have nothing I want to hear." Jane's voice might have frozen a polar bear solid in its tracks. "But don't worry. This is just a dream. You will wake up and probably forget all of this as a nightmare. But for now..." She turned to see the orange form had the girl off the now shattered table machine and cradled close as she cried. "She okay?"

"She is intact. I need to check her to be sure." The orange form turned an angry face at the fallen EXALT agent. "He hurt her!"

"I am uplifting her!" The EXALT agent declared, only to scream as Jane stepped on his manhood and twisted her heel.

"Get her out of here and be careful." Jane said quietly. "They liked setting traps."

"I will get her settled and be back for you." The orange form said with a nod but then she paused. "How long?" Jane looked at the EXALT agent who stared at her like a cobra might a mongoose.

"Give me ten minutes." Jane might have been discussing the weather as she flipped her blade in an ancient and pointless gesture. No blood would remain on the heated blade to be shed that way, but such an ancient traditional gesture felt right. The orange form gave a sharp nod and vanished with the still crying girl. Jane sheathed her blade and knelt in front of the fallen EXALT agent. "Now. We are going to have some discussion time."

"I will tell you nothing, X-Com filth!" The agent declared, only to scream as Jane lashed out with an armored hand and grabbed the stump of his right arm.

"Who said anything about _you_ talking?" Jane asked in a soft, menacing voice as she twisted. "You have no information I need." The EXALT agent stared at her and Jane smiled, a death's head grin. "I bet you know all kinds of ways to twist people's dreams. Do you know how to _escape_ them?"

"What?" The shuddering man asked as Jane let him go and sidled back a little. His eyes went huge as a small knife appeared in her hand.

"Obviously, since you were trying to program that girl, you know something about manipulating dreams." Jane examined the blade in her hands. A simple utilitarian design, it was ten centimeters long, was single edged and razor sharp. "I know that since you are EXALT, you have no morals, scruples or anything even remotely resembling a conscience. But messing with a kid that way?" She shook her head.

"You are helping aliens!" The EXALT agent tried to rise, only to scream and fall back as Jane lashed out with the hand that did not have a blade in it and connected with the stump of his left wrist.

"No, actually I am not." Jane replied calmly. "The kid you were torturing is human. Modified by Advent for some purpose I don't know yet, but human. I am assuming you were trying to get control of that one, then to get control of the others to rebuild your organization."

"I will tell you nothing!" The EXALT gave a scream that turned into a gurgle as Jane lashed out with the blade, cutting the front of his neck. She deliberately missed all of the blood vessels, simply slicing his larynx. He stared at her, dumbfounded.

"You seem to be under a misapprehension, EXALT. You have no information I need or want at this time." Jane kept her voice calm and quiet. "You seem to think you are more ruthless than I am. _I_ have been fighting aliens and watching my friends die while _you_ have been cowering in your bunker. I have withstood physical injuries, Advent interrogations and alien mind control." His eyes went bigger and bigger as she leaned close, her voice dropping in tone, but increasing in intensity. "I _watched_ the Elder's hidden fortress _burn_ around me with the bodies of two of my best friends inside it. _You_ are a sad, sick relic of another time and eventually, I or someone like me will find you in the real world and _end_ your filth. Until then?" Jane smiled again and the smell of urine soured the air. The man had lost control of himself. "I just want you to hurt until you wake up from this nightmare for what you did to that girl. I will make you scream loud and long. Oh... If I find you in the real world? You will take _days_ to die."

"Let's see how long you last _here_."

* * *

Nine and a half minutes later

Jane was silent as the orange form of her companion brought her to another room. She still wore the form she had before, armor, Storm Gun and sword. This room was far different. It was small but felt comfortable instead of cramped. The bed was colorful and the walls were coated with various things that might have been art to a little girl. Said little brown haired girl was hugging her knees on the bed, her face blank. The tracks of tears shone but she wasn't crying at the moment. She wore a jumpsuit now, but it too was spotted with the streaks of tears.

"Maya?" The orange form started cautiously, but paused as Jane stepped forward.

"I didn't kill him." Jane said quietly. "I _couldn't_ there. That wasn't real." The girl met her eyes, and her face was far too old for such a small body.

"It was in my mind." Maya said in a monotone. Jane nodded. "He will get me again."

"No, he _won't_." Jane replied offhand. Maya stared at her and Jane smiled. This smile was different, sad but gentle. "You see, I had a really bad experience once. I had a lot of bad dreams as a result. In the course of my recovery, I learned a lot about dreams. In humans, memory is chemical. When we sleep, the subconscious pulls up random memories to act as releases for our emotions. It doesn't always work as it should. After what happened to me, I broke a few bunks and no one wanted to bunk with me for fear of me lashing out in a dream. I had no control while asleep. I could have killed someone." Jane grimaced in memory. That hadn't been so fun. "But I got better."

"I cannot kill anyone." Maya said savagely. "I am too small."

"Size doesn't matter, Maya." Jane moved to the bed. Maya did not react as Jane sat beside her. "The question is not ' _Can_ you?'. The question is: ' _Should_ you?'" Maya would not meet her eyes and Jane shook her head. "You are angry. You feel violated. You feel hurt and sick in ways that you didn't know were possible." Jane paused and dropped her hand to lie beside Maya who ignored it. "I know the feeling."

" _You_?" Maya jerked staring up at Jane, shock writ large on her face. "But you are strong! You have _weapons_!"

"Every strength has limits, Maya." Jane wasn't looking at the girl, she was seeing Advent uniforms again. Her weapons vanished. She didn't need them now. "He won't hurt you that way again. He can't."

"Why not?" Maya was unbending. Her face showed curiosity instead of blankness.

"You can learn to defend yourself from such things." Jane said with a nod as she focused back on the girl. "I know some people who can teach you that. Until you _do_ , you will not dream alone." Maya stared at her, uncomprehending and the orange form coughed.

"Jane, you have duties." The other said slowly, carefully. Maya stared from one to the other, her face going slack as she realized what Jane meant. That _Jane_ would protect her.

"I am on medical leave for a while and have a _lot_ of leave time saved up." Jane replied as she watched Maya out of the corner of her eye. "Never had any call to use it before. Besides, it was far too dangerous for any of us to go far from the ship. X-Com's primary focus has always been to defend humanity. From enemies without or enemies within." She turned her head to look Maya in the face. "And I see something that _deserves_ defending."

"He said I wasn't human." Maya said weakly as Jane moved her hand just a little closer to the girl. "That I was an abomination."

"Sam is human." Jane said softly. "And frankly? The _worst_ Advent I ever met was more human than _that_ scum." She smiled at Maya and the girl returned it, a bit tremulous. "I cannot promise miracles, Maya. I too am merely human. All I can promise is that I will _try_. If that scum tries to hurt you again..." Her face hardened. "I actually hope he does. Hurting him felt _good_." Her tone was feral.

"Jane!" The orange form said sharply, but Maya exclaimed and then hugged Jane tight. Tears were falling now as Jane carefully laid her arms around the girl.

"Right now, she doesn't need comfort." Jane said softly. "She needs something solid to hold onto until she feels solid on her feet again. I know. I have been there. He may hurt you in the real world, Maya. But here, you are in control of your own mind. He was scary, no question and he hurt you. But you are not weak." She smiled at Maya. _Are you?_ She asked silently. Maya jerked back and stared at the human.

"How...? What...?" Maya stammered, her face shifting back to fear. "What do you mean?"

"I have been around psis a _lot_ , Maya." Jane said quietly even as the orange form froze. "Friendly and enemy. How _else_ did you call _me_ for help? You got a read on me when the blue gunk was slathered all over my head." That was not a question and Maya slumped. "Hey..." Jane pulled Maya back close. "It is nothing bad, girl."

"It is not right." Maya was crying again as Jane held her. "We are all strange. Different."

"Oh?" Jane asked. "And that is bad?" She put just the right note of question in her voice and Maya stared at her, eyes huge. Jane shook her head. "Maya, _where_ are we?"

"I..." Maya stiffened as realization dawned. "I thought I was in _Mom's_ mind." Jane smiled wider. "We are in _yours_?"

"We sort of had to merge. It was complicated." Jane winced in memory. "So, tell me, Maya. Am I freaking about you being different?"

"No." Maya allowed. "But..."

"I hate to say this, Maya..." Jane's tone belied her words. "...but you are nowhere even remotely _close_ to the weirdest thing I have seen in my life." She grinned at Maya's dumbfounded expression and then sobered. "You are a psi. Are all the kids?"

"I don't know." Maya admitted.

"Yes." The orange form stepped close and sat on Maya's other side, her human shaped arm encircling the girl around Jane's. "They are. I wasn't sure how to say it. They don't grow and I believe they will not show the full extent of their power unless they achieve puberty. Is that correct?"

"Such powers often defy prediction." Jane said with a sigh. "Good news is that I know two very _good_ psis who _can_ help and will want to. _Bad_ news is that EXALT scum has you and the others in the real world, Maya." She shook her head again.

"What say we do something about that?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Gravity**

"Eighty _seven_ psis." Syndrome swallowed hard.

"Yeah." Jane agreed from her seat. The docs hadn't wanted her out of the AWC, but it hadn't had nearly enough room for this, so the wheelchair was the compromise they had settled on. Or, more accurately it was what the _docs_ had settled for when Jane had nearly walked out on her own in a huff.

The Avenger did not have a lot of spare space for large scale briefings, so they had commandeered a workshop to have this discussion. Jane and most of her team were present as well as Firefly, Sam, Central, Doctor Tygan and Lily Shen. She had kept the headdress on that allowed her passenger to talk via a screen but the other hadn't had much to add as Jane had explained the situation.

"We cannot handle that many." Firefly said, worried. Sam looked up at her and she smiled at him. "We will do what we can, Sam."

"We don't mean to be a bother." Sam slumped a bit, but Firefly was having none of it.

"You are not." The female psi said quickly. "None of this is your fault." She looked at Syndrome who shook his head.

"It is not, Sam." Syndrome repeated and the boy relaxed a little. "Others may blame you for it, but _we_ will not. That does explain a bit. Like how you learned so much, so fast. It takes most regular humans _decades_ to learn as many languages and sciences as you know." Sam slumped a bit, but Syndrome was having none of it. "Here now! Buck up, kid. Knowing the problem is a step towards solving it. This one will not be easy, but hey..." He shrugged. "We don't _get_ the easy problems."

"Let me be sure I got this straight." Central said after a moment. "The kids are all psis and they were being trained as _pilots_?"

"How else would the aliens control them if not psionically?" Jane asked. Everyone looked at her and then at Sam who flushed. "Thing is, we blew their network to hell with the fortress. Until and unless they can rebuild it, Sam and his peers are useless to them."

"Can _you_ use us?" Sam asked. Firefly gasped and pulled him close to her.

"Don't even think that, Sam." Firefly said sharply. "You are _not_ a tool or a weapon to be used and discarded. _None_ of us are. We are _people_. People with different skills, but people."

"I understand the mechanics of flight." Sam said quietly. "I may not be able to think my way around the anti-gravity systems..." He paused as Jane muttered 'Who _can_?'. He smiled at her and she smiled back. "But I can operate machines that are designed to fly and I want to."

"Sam." Central spoke up when no one else did. "No offense to you or your peers. But you are a kid." Sam bristled, but Central wasn't done. "It doesn't matter how old you are chronologically. You are not conditioned or trained for it. People get hurt in combat and if they are not trained, things go wrong, very quickly. And... doc? What happens if Sam or one of the other kids are connected to a ship that takes damage?" Tygan winced and Central nodded. "I am betting would not be good."

"No." Tygan said with a slightly sick look on his face. "The best case scenario would be circuit breakers blowing from the feedback and unconsciousness. Worst case? Lobotomy." Jane was hardly the only one to grimace at that.

"But..." Sam started and then broke off, hanging his head. Firefly gave his shoulder a squeeze and released it.

"Right now, getting the others free of the nutcase who has them has to be a priority." Jane said with a glance at Central who nodded. "I may have dissuaded him from trying to warp Maya. I may not have."

"What did you do?" Lily hadn't said much but she had been listening hard.

"You do not want to know." Jane looked away from her friend, face bleak. Lily looked at Central and then at Syndrome who shook his head gravely.

 _She saved my daughter._ The mind within Jane said calmly. Her words popped up on the screen and everyone watched as she continued. _I do not care_ **how** _she did it. I care about her feelings, but she is handling them. She_ **did** _frighten me._

"Our Shogun can be _damn_ scary, no question." Syndrome said with a grin. "So... boss?" He turned to Central whose face was creased with thought. "We know generally where they are, if not exactly. Shogun can lead us in."

"None of this was recorded, Syndrome." Central's protested was pretty much pro forma. He wanted to do this, that was clear, but he wasn't sure about Jane. That was also clear. "We cannot be sure if it was a dream or it actually happened."

"It happened." Syndrome and Firefly chorused and then glanced at each other. Jane smiled but then nodded to Central. Sam was glaring daggers at the officer and Jane shook her head.

"Sam, Central is just doing his job." Jane motioned to the boy and he moved to her side, Firefly right with him. Jane patted her lap and Sam crawled up into it, relaxing a little as Jane laid an arm around him. "He is responsible for all of us with the Commander busy. Anything that happens is his responsibility. Even if we manage this, I _do_ wonder how the Commander will react to seeing the ship overrun with kids."

"The Commander has been apprised." Central nodded to Jane. "We are looking at the possibility of renovating an old military base. An air base." Sam perked up at that and Central shook his head. "For now, it would just be housing and it wouldn't be palatial. But your mom's comment about an air force struck a nerve with _both_ of us. We need more than just the Avenger to keep the planet secure but we _also_ want to keep _you_ safe."

"Safety is an illusion, Mr. Central." Sam said with a frown. Jane gave him a squeeze and he relaxed. "If Advent discovers us, they will try to take us back or kill us. Many of us want to fight back, but Mom never had the means."

 _Nor do I wish you to._ The words on the screen silenced Sam for a moment and his eyes were glistening. _It is a choice that you will make, I know that. But you are my kids and I love you. The thought of you hurt or killed frightens me._

"Advent really screwed up with you, didn't they?" Lily asked. "They wanted someone to make slaves and they got you."

 _This could be some kind of long laid plan._ The other warned. _They were very sneaky about a lot of things._ The writing on the screen paused and then it continued. _[laugh] I did not just say that._ _Who_ _am I talking to?_

Jane had to smile as Central and Lily both grinned. Tygan did not but he seemed slightly less serious for a moment. Syndrome was grinning openly and Firefly was just shaking her head, obviously fighting a wide smile but not very hard.

"It could be." Jane agreed. "But we cannot let indecision paralyze us. Advent may or may not have a plan, EXALT _does_. And now? That scum has eighty six kids to do his nastiness on." She sighed and spoke again. "Central, I have a lot of leave stored up. I want to take a vacation."

"Colonel Kelly..." Central growled at her.

"You know..." If Syndrome grinned any wider, his teeth were going to fall out. " _I_ have lot of leave stored up too. Any idea of _where_ , Jane? Beaches? Palm trees? Arctic icepacks?"

"Hey!" Central snapped. "We cannot lose _all_ of you for some indeterminate time."

"You have Reverb." Firefly said with a grin that was full of malice "He says he is better than everyone else, why not let him _prove_ it?" Central groaned and put a hand to his face. "Of course, he may get fragged by his teammates if he doesn't shut up."

"Don't even _joke_ that, Major Harding." Central said with force.

"I am not joking, sir." Firefly was suddenly completely serious. "We do not trust him. We cannot. He abuses his powers in small..." She broke off and looked at Syndrome who nodded. Both of them turned to the side and power flared from their eyes. "Speak of the devil."

Syndrome raised a hand that suddenly had his amp in it and a short, sharp scream sounded from the darkened corner they were now glaring at. Everyone froze as Reverb came into view, his body jerking as it moved. Syndrome wasn't being gentle.

"Eavesdropping." Central shook his head. "This is what, the fourth time?"

"Yeah." Syndrome was sad now. "We cannot trust him, sir." He made a gesture and Reverb dropped to his knees. Firefly made another gesture and the man's amp flew from his back to land in her hand. "I will do it." Syndrome rose from where he had been kneeling, and his gait was old and tired.

 _Wait._ The words on the screen flashed to get everyone's attention. **What** _will you do to him?_

"He has abused his powers." Syndrome said with a frown. "Agents are allowed a lot of leeway, especially psi operatives. There simply are not enough of us. But if we cannot _trust_ him and he has proven over and over that we _cannot_..." He heaved a sigh of regret. "We cannot allow him to threaten the teams or the ship."

 _So you will kill him._ The other inside Jane was horrified now. Syndrome slumped a bit and she had her answer.

"What else can we _do_?" Jane asked. "He knows far too much about us to let loose and is far too dangerous to us to confine."

 _There has to be an alternative._ The other protested. _Not only is he a limited resource as you say, but he is a living breathing human being._

"Who should have either been strangled at birth or spanked a _lot_ more often." Firefly's face was a far cry from her usual kind mien. Now? It was cold and hard. "We cannot trust him."

 _And if you_ _could_ _ **?**_ The mind within Jane asked and Jane froze at the feelings from her. Resignation. Worry.

"We can't." Central replied. "He has been warned repeatedly about acting the way he does. He won't stop."

 _So you will lose a powerful member of your forces._ The other was not happy and Jane was shaking her head even as the words continued to fill the screen. The feelings within her were clear. _Jane..._

"You _cannot_ be _serious_!" Jane snapped. " _Him_?"

 _I have had to deal with difficult personalities who possessed psi powers before._ The other's words appeared on the screen and everyone stared from it to Jane who was shaking her head savagely now. _You do not need me anymore, Jane Kelly. The damage is healed._

"I..." Jane went rigid but then relaxed as Sam put this arms around her. Firefly and Syndrome shared a look and then looked at Jane. Jane's voice was tiny when she spoke again. "I am being selfish. I cannot be selfish. If you can help him, then..."

 _It will not be pretty or quick._ The other warned. _I have no idea how long it will take or if it is even possible for an adult. But I am willing to try._

"Syndrome?" Central asked. The lead psi for X-Com frowned, his face grave. "What do you think?"

"I think I need a _drink_." Syndrome groaned. "She is willing and able. He is strong, but his arrogance limits his skill. The easiest answer is as always: Kill him. But if she _can_... Firefly? This isn't a one person decision."

"I don't like him." Firefly grimaced. "I never have. You all know that. He rubs me _seriously_ the wrong way. That said... Two of us are not enough and even if we can rescue Sam's friends, they are not trained." She patted Sam's arm. "No offense."

"None taken." Sam shook his head. "Mom, he can hurt you."

 _Yes, he can, Sam._ The words on the screen made Sam gulp. _But in this case, the risk is worth the reward. We can prove our intent_ **and** _our honesty by saving a life._

"Mom..." Sam begged as Jane nodded to Firefly who reached out and scooped Sam up, holding him close. He relaxed in her grip, tears threatening but not falling yet. Jane rose from her chair and strode to the frozen psi. He glared at her but could do nothing else.

"Reverb, you are being given a chance by someone _far_ more lenient than _any_ of us would be." Jane said softly as she reached out a hand to him. "Don't squander it."

 _DON'T TOUCH- AH!_ The mental voice of the psi was cut off in a cry of static as she made contact. Something flowed from Jane's hand through her and into the other. Jane staggered back, suddenly bereft. She felt her eyes burn even as Reverb's body shifted a little. Her eyes went huge as a familiar orange color appeared on his dark skin. Pain flared, but it wasn't from _Jane_.

"She is... Ow..." Sam swallowed hard as Jane recoiled from the pain she could feel. "He is not happy."

"None of us are." Firefly hugged him gently then stiffened as Jane staggered and nearly fell. "Shogun? You okay?"

"I don't know." Jane said weakly. Sam indicated the floor to Firefly who set him down. He ran to Jane and hugged her. She felt better.

"It gets better with time." Sam said with the voice of experience. "Mom not being there is jarring. But we are with you. Maya is with you." Jane smiled at him and nodded. She could feel the girl sleeping comfortably, if from a far greater distance than before.

Everyone watched Reverb as his body was completely encased in the orange skin. The man's mouth was open in a silent scream and then it closed. The eyes opened and they were glowing orange instead of purple.

 _He sleeps._ The voice was different, stronger. _Oh my. He was a_ **slave** _. They used him to violate others with his mind. To steal and to cause harm from the time he was a child._

"What?" Firefly demanded. Syndrome looked away and she snarled at him. "Why didn't you _tell_ me?"

"I don't blab personal history when I discover it in mind links to trainees." Syndrome said with a glower. Firefly stiffened and then nodded. "His past wasn't germane and I thought I could get him past it. I was wrong."

 _You were not._ The other's mental voice was soft. _He was changing, just not quickly. I am part of him now. I can ease him further along that path faster than you could, show him your way is better than his as well as being more efficient. But it will not be swift. He is remarkably strong willed._

"Of course." Syndrome had no arrogance in his voice at all. "He is one of us. An X-Com psi. The weak do not survive."

"Mom?" Sam asked from Jane's arms.

"I am all right, Sam." The other spoke from the man's mouth and then stopped and spoke mentally, Reverb's power augmenting her ability. _That is very odd, hearing_ **my** _voice from_ **his** _mouth. It has been while since I was part of a male._

"We will need to switch the sensors from Jane to him." Lily said with a frown. "A lot of people will have problems with hearing disembodied voices." Jane looked at her and lily shrugged. "I am one of them." She admitted.

 _I would never hurt you, Lily Shen._ The other said quickly.

"I know, but years of paranoia are not undone in a few days." Lily smiled to take the sting from her words. "Your care for Jane and Sam show a level of empathy that Advent simply could never manage to emulate."

"It could be a long laid plan." Jane warned even as Sam hissed. "Sam. You know it could be."

"I want to do something." Sam protested. "I want to help!"

"You can." Lily said quietly. All eyes turned to where she stood and she nodded to the others. "Sam? As Central said, you don't have conditioning to make you strong or training in actual combat. This is not something that can be fixed immediately or even this _year_. Such things take time. That said..." She smiled as Sam wilted a little. "I think I may have a workaround."

"Lily."Central warned.

"Hey, Bradford. I am not stupid." Lily replied with a touch of asperity. "We have no need now to throw untrained or half trained people into firefights."

She sagged a bit and Jane could relate. The war with Advent and their masters had been brutal. Jane had made decisions that would haunt her to her dying day. She could only guess at the decisions that Central, Lily and the Commander had been forced into by circumstances.

"No."Central relaxed a little. "I know you are not stupid, Lily. This situation is just..." He shrugged helplessly and Lily nodded.

"Yeah." Lily nodded and turned to her laptop. She had brought it with her, but then again, she rarely went anywhere on the ship without it and/or a Gremlin or two. She hadn't touched it until now though and Jane felt anticipation. Lily wasn't always the best at social interactions, but she had a mind that was essentially unmatched in tech to Jane's experience. "Sam, simply strapping you into a some form of flying machine won't work. There are too many unknowns. So... I decided to see if we can remove some of those unknowns."

"How?" Sam asked, staring at her laptop.

"Well, ordinarily, pilots were trained for years." Lily replied. "I spoke with Firebrand, our transport pilot and she gave me some ideas. She would _love_ an escort for some of the places we send her."

"But if I can't _do_ it..." Sam broke off as Lily finished whatever she was doing and a holo appeared over her laptop. The small thing had wings, a nose and a tail. It was obviously some kind of flying craft, but it looked way too outlandish to be practical. It also had one glaring deficiency. Sam shook his head." There is no canopy for the pilot to see out of."

"That is because this is a drone." Lily replied. Sam stiffened and _everyone_ was suddenly paying _very_ close attention. "Half the size of the Skyranger, and I couldn't ever get a pilot AI to work right." Her smile was a bit melancholy. "A drone based on one of Dad's designs, actually. He never got it working."

"He called the full size version 'Firestorm'. I call this 'Firespark'"


	10. Chapter 10

**Flight**

"Yahoo!" Sam caroled as he threw the drone onto its side, banking away from the Avenger. He did a full roll and then another, exulting in the sheer freedom of unfettered flight.

"Sam." A calm voice sounded and he went rigid. He resumed the course and slowed to the speed he had been instructed to assume.

"Yes, Firebrand." Sam said politely. "I was checking the responsiveness of rotation in the Z-axis."

" _Sure_ you were." The other pilot said with manifest disbelief. As the only actual rated pilot aboard the Avenger, she had, by necessity, been dragooned into helping Sam prove that he _did_ actually know what he was doing. "Be very glad we live in the world we do, Sam. That stunt would have gotten you grounded at the very least before the aliens came."

"I don't think that I can be glad for that at all." Sam said after a moment of checking the drone's systems. "That was inexcusable, Ma'am. I won't do it again."

"Sam,..." Firebrand had a frown in her voice as another drone moved to match his course and speed. "You did not hurt anyone and this is a shakedown both for the drones and for you. Lily is very good, but no one is perfect. Thing is, if you are going to be flying these things for us, you need to obey orders." Sam did not respond and she continued in a lighter tone. "That said, yes. They are fun. Oh and by the way?" A light traced from her drone to Sam's and hers shot off on a divergent course at high speed. "Tag! You are it!"

"You..." Sam broke off and his drone flashed away, chasing the other.

* * *

Not that far away at all in aircraft terms

"I don't think I have _ever_ seen our esteemed transport pilot so happy." Lily commented as she and Central Agent Bradford watched a display on the bridge of the Avenger.

On the screen, the drones were darting here and there, effortlessly pulling of maneuvers that would have made even the best fighter pilot of the time before the aliens came black out. Neither looked quite like a human built aircraft. The twin exhausts did not exhaust anything that any aviation engineer prior to the aliens' arrival would have recognized. The sleek curves were oddly sharp in ways that Lily promised would allow for hypersonic flight. They would _not_ be testing _that_ today. Also, the four weapon bays were empty except for a single targeting laser which Sam and Firebrand were jousting with.

"She was always a fighter pilot at heart." Central agreed. "This is a good idea, Lily. But I dislike the ultra tight connection that Sam slid into so easily."

They both turned to another screen that showed the small room where Firebrand and Sam sat on form sitting seats connected to the computers that allowed them to almost literally become the drones that they were now putting through some serious paces.

"It worries me too, Bradford." Lily said after a moment. "I mean, I know my tech and it will do what we need to it. Dad's initial design wouldn't have worked for this, we would have needed a _lot_ more Elerium and alloys to even _begin_ building the thing and even then, Firebrand is the _only_ pilot we _have_ and we wouldn't have space for a full size Firestorm aboard unless we ditch the Skyranger, which we won't do. This is a good compromise until we can get a land base and secure it."

"Working on that." Central grunted as Sam drone slid around Firebrand's drone in a complex maneuver that left him in perfect firing position. His targeting laser flashed, but Firebrand had somehow altered course and slid to his right, neatly evading the low power beam. Sam slid after her and the fight was still on. "Kid is good, no question. But Tygan is worried about his readings. He seems almost to _need_ the connection."

"An addiction?" Lily asked carefully. Central shrugged and Lily sighed. "The only ones who would know would be Advent and we cannot trust anything _they_ say. But I wouldn't put such past them." She shook her head. "Nothing we can do except keep a close eye on him. Well, him and Reverb."

"Yeah." Central grimaced. " _That_ I did not expect. But the other seems to be playing straight with us."

"She wants to save her kids." Lily replied. "After that? We need to keep a very close eye on her. One thing. The other. This Slither that Sam talks about. Tygan has been making noises about a live Viper to study. _Please_ tell me you said 'No' about bringing it aboard."

"Not a chance in hell, Lily." Central replied with a quirked smile and Lily relaxed. The smile faded. "One reason I think the aliens hit us as hard and fast as they did in the last war is Dr. Vahlen wanted live aliens to study and interrogate." He shook his head. "I can't prove it, but I would be willing to bet those 'prisoners' led them right to us. Won't take the chance again."

"Good." Lily paused and then smiled wide at the display and Central turned to see Sam and Firebrand twisting and turning all over the sky. "Those two are really having fun." She looked at various readouts and shook her head. "Sam's readings are close to Firebrand/s. No anomalies detected."

"We need to check them both." Central blew out a breath and hit a control to activate his mike. "Firebrand, Base One. Looks like a draw to me. Terminate exercise and return to base. Both of you have dates with the doc."

A muffled masculine groan was cut short as Firebrand replied. "Roger that, Base One. Firespark One and Two returning to base at this time." Both drones turned and assumed a close formation as they approached the Avenger. "Firespark Two, the crosswinds are high. Let the systems land you. That is what I usually do when I am flying the Skyranger and the crosswinds get bad."

"Roger that, Firespark One." Sam's voice was clipped and professional now.

Lily and Central shared a glance as Sam's drone followed Firebrand's onto the landing grid that the crew had laid out near the Skyranger's landing area. The drones landed without incident and shut themselves down even as the main lift was bringing them down into the hangar for examination. The mismatched pair of X-Com's high command turned to the screen where Sam and Firebrand were rising out of the chairs that they had been in. Sam was grinning widely and was all but bouncing in excitement. Firebrand, by contrast, was cool and calm, but she too was smiling.

"Firebrand?" Central as after he keyed the com again. Both of the drone pilots on the screen stiffened and turned towards the camera that was watching them. "Status?"

"When do I get one of those, sir?" Firebrand had a wide smile on her face as Sam smothered a laugh beside her. She ruffled his hair and he beamed. "The telepresence systems worked like a charm. I don't think I could multi-task well enough to fly the Skyranger and one of those, but it was _very_ cool."

"Any problems at all?" Central asked. Firebrand looked at Sam, who took a step forward. "Sam?"

"The com systems worked very well." Sam's tone was a far cry from any normal little boy now. It sounded completely professional. "I did sense a bit of feedback with the port drive system. I am not sure if it was me though. I was pushing the drives as hard as I could." Lily looked at Central and then started scanning readouts again. "I am also not sure about the weight distribution with only one bay filled."

"That is for later." Central promised. "For now, no odd feelings?"

"None that I can sense." Sam replied after a moment's thought. "I will report to the doc as directed." He didn't want to, but Firebrand smiled at him and he relaxed.

"Tygan will take care of you, Sam." Firebrand said with a smile as she ruffled his hair again. "Go on." Sam nodded to the camera again and started for the door where Central knew an X-Com security trooper was waiting to escort the boy to Tygan. "He is a good kid, sir. And good pilot."

"That is your assessment?" Central asked. Firebrand nodded.

"I have real world experience he lacks." The transport pilot made a face. "Without that? He would have had me at least four times. When he gets bit of experience under his belt, there will be no stopping him. I hope he is on our side, sir."

"Me too, Firebrand." Central said gravely. "Me too. Better go get the Skyranger ready. Shogun and her team are prepping for departure."

"If it is not _already_ humming, sir, I will have my crew chief do a thousand pushups." Firebrand smirked at the screen and Central nodded. A military pilot was often only as good as the ground team supporting him or her. "Full squad?"

"Shogun wanted to go alone or just with Syndrome." Central admitted. "I nixed that idea. Yeah, full squad of six." He glanced at Lily. "Including Duke."

"Thanks for the warning, sir." Firebrand made a face, but it wasn't serious. "Bucket of bolts always throws the weight distribution off." This was to Lily who gave a sniff.

"The teams appreciate you going above and beyond." Lily said from where she was working. Firebrand and Central both groaned at the pun.

"One thing you should know, Firebrand..." Central said quietly. "Reverb is not going with them." The pilot paused as she started for the door. "The other is not confident in her ability to keep him controlled in field conditions."

"Then how are we going to find the kids?" Firebrand asked slowly.

"I understand that is under discussion."

* * *

Avenger armory

"No, Hollywood. We are not shooting on sight."

Jane was checking her armaments. It was a familiar ritual and it helped calm her nerves. For this, she didn't bother with the politically correct loadout she had assumed for the peacekeeping mission where Sam had found her. No, this time she was arming up for alien. Or EXALT.

Standard kit of every X-Com soldier was Warden armor. Light enough to look formfitting but strong enough to turn a heavy plasma bolt if it hit at an angle, the armor was now X-Com's default look in the field. Instead of Warden Armor, Jane wore her Wraith suit. It provided unparalleled mobility and for her? Mobility was life. It also allowed her to shift phase with reality for short periods of time and literally walk through walls if needed. A wrist mounted grapple also increased her mobility. The helmets were essentially an aesthetic choice. Every one of X-Com's helmets had a force field built in to protect the very important bits of human anatomy that were covered. Jane preferred the simplicity of a wrap around visor that allowed her to see the Head's Up Display in any lighting condition and did not obscure her vision. Others went for more garish solutions. Hollywood in particular wore a gas mask emblazoned with the X-com logo that was utterly useless against most forms of gas that X-Com might encounter. Most of those worked by skin contact, not inhalation. Jane didn't say anything. Her team could wear whatever they wanted as long as it did the job.

For this mission, Jane wasn't holding back. She had signed out the bolt caster. It was an odd weapon. It looked like a throwback to an ancient human crossbow, but it acted anything _but_ ancient. It was single shot, requiring a reload after each bolt, but it did insane damage. The downside was despite Lily's best efforts, X-Com had not been able to duplicate the tech that went into it. They could improve it a bit, but not duplicate it, so the one that the teams had was the _only_ one. Every time she took it out, she worried that she might lose it. But for a situation where there were a lot of unknowns? The stopping power and stunning power of the caster were priceless. She had never been good with the axes and she left them where they sat on the rack. Her Fusion Blade would serve well enough.

"Tell me we are not actually going to _talk_ to an alien." Hollywood groused for the fourth time as she checked her Plasma Lance. Utter overkill in most situations, the heavy weapon would throw a bolt of plasma as far as the sniper could see. On a dare and with some help from Lily's automation, the sniper had hit a target in _orbit_. That derelict satellite hadn't had a chance.

"We are not." Syndrome sat as he always did before a mission. Still as a rock, but poised, ready to move at a moment's notice."Shogun is. No one else. We here to cover her back and nothing more."

His plasma Scramgun and Amp would be spotless, Jane knew that without bothering to look. Off duty, the man might find solace in a bottle a bit too much of her taste, but _on_ duty? There was no one she would trust more. His skill mask was bit off putting, but nowhere remotely as bad as some headgear she had seen. One nut had actually worn an _Advent_ helmet. Until his first firefight when he had drawn friendly fire a bit too much. His team had focused on the shape, not the IFF on their HUDs. Advent had been known to spoof their HUDs. He was lucky not to have been killed. When he got out of the hospital, he had ditched the helmet to the team's everlasting gratitude.

"Am I the only one who has a problem with this?" Hollywood demanded as she slung her Lance and started checking the rest of her gear. A plasma pistol that was rarely needed and a hopefully not needed medikit were standard for her. She glared around but the other three on the team remained silent. "Feedback? Beta?"

The medical specialist and tech specialist did not respond, checking their own plasma rifles and Gremlins. They both carried specialized gear as well. Feedback's Gremlin was set up for battlefield medical care that would rival most pre-alien hospitals and her pack was filled with additional medikits. Beta, the tech, was carrying a lot of electronics. Scanning gear, jamming gear, hacking gear, his pack was full of _stuff_. He wasn't -quite- a nerd as Jane understood the historical word. But he was the closest she had ever encountered. He wasn't comfortable with people, just with tech. With tech however, he was unmatched in Jane's experience. He could make Advent computer networks _literally_ roll over and beg. Both specialists ignored Hollywood's rant with the skill of long practice. She was a bit excitable when not in the field. In it? She was a long range killing machine with about as much emotion. Speaking of machines...

"We all have problems with our orders." Duke's mechanical voice had everyone pausing. "They go against our core values. We see aliens, we kill them." Jane turned to scrutinize the mechanical form that stood nearby. His weapons and equipment would be in perfect order. Lily wouldn't let him out of her bay otherwise. "That is our usual job." The robot said calmly. "But in this case, our usual job is precluded by our need to do our primary job. To defend humanity."

"That is right, Duke." Jane had to smile. Lily was very closemouthed about _how_ her father had managed to make an artificial intelligence. The first attempt hadn't worked out so well and Lily was still dealing with the emotions from discovering her father's final gift to her. But Duke was a solid and dependable force that verged on the irresistible, on and off the battlefield. He was not ruled by emotions, which was both good and bad. He also could not be mind controlled, which had saved a number of teammates' lives. "Our information says that eighty six human children are in danger. Not from aliens, but from a twisted and evil human. Such things have never been our primary focus. We never had _time_ with everything else going on. _Now_ we have time. I for one think it is a good thing. Maybe my passenger softened my edges. Maybe she twisted me, is leading us all into a trap. I don't know. We _need_ to know."

"And getting information is a lot of what we are for." Hollywood slumped a bit and nodded, mask not quite all the way on. "Message received, Colonel."

"Don't _start_ , Colonel." Jane said to a series of snickers as Hollywood grinned at her. They were the same rank, but Jane had taken advanced training and led the team in the field. Hollywood was much better in her own element. A clear field of fire and a full magazine were her only desires. Jane shook her head as she finalized the checks on her Storm Gun. "Team?"

"Syndrome ready." The psi reported. "Locked, loaded and stable." She looked at him and he nodded. "Blood alcohol level is well under limits."

"It _better_ be." Jane snapped repressively, only to smile as the rest of the team minus Duke snickered. "Hollywood?"

"Fully armed and mostly ready." The sniper said with a sigh. "That is mind stuff. I will deal with it." She promised. Jane nodded to her. Hollywood wasn't prone to exaggeration. If she said she could deal with it, she could.

"Medical ready." Feedback's quiet voice was calm and Jane smiled at her. The medic was a solid teammate. She paused as Beta wasn't looking at Jane or listening. "Beta!" She hissed.

"What? Oh. Ready." The male specialist said with a distracted air and focused on his tech again. Jane and Feedback shared an exasperated look before Jane focused on the final member of the team.

"Unit within parameters." Duke reported even as Jane's gaze landed on him. "Ready for mission, Colonel Kelly."

"Okay. Game faces." Jane took a deep breath and activated her HUD. Beta and Feedback did likewise. Hollywood slid her gas mask into place and Syndrome just stood up. Duke simply turned his robotic head to watch her. Jane smiled at her well honed packets of mass destruction and nodded.

"Menace 1-5 ready to board." She reported to Central who was quick to reply.

"You know the mission." Central's tone was calm as always. "Get in, get the kids, get out. Oh, and if you see that EXALT scum? Feel _free_ to use excessive force." Hate sounded in his tone and then was gone.

"Wow." Syndrome muttered sotto voice. "I don't think Central likes EXALT much."

"You will learn why." Jane said with a grunt as she started for the bay door that led to the Skyranger. "Frankly, from what I saw? He is being restrained."

"Well, good thing we have you here to restrain _us_." Syndrome's words were not really funny, but everyone chuckled anyway. Jane though met his eyes and he nodded, just a little. She relaxed just a little, knowing that if she _did_ turn out to be a threat, he would act.

"Let's go, people!" Jane barked as the ramp for the Skyranger came into sight. " _You want to live forever?_ " She waited for the required response and was not disappointed.

" _YES!_ "


	11. Chapter 11

**Fear**

Jane led the way into the ruined house that had started all of this. She wasn't happy and neither were the rest of the humans on her team. Duke didn't care that instead of a standard insertion, sliding down tropes for a nice quiet start to a mission, the Skyranger had _landed_ in the town square. Not exactly subtle and it had only gotten worse. The Resistance had been apprised that the team was going underground and the whole town had apparently turned out to see them do it.

The team was far too professional to let a bunch of gawkers mess them up, but it was when they were rigging ropes to descend into the hole under the house and a pair of woman in Resistance garb just would not stop asking questions that Jane had enough.

"We don't know what is down there." Jane said when the pair belatedly realized she was glaring at them. "That is our mission. To go down and look. And no..." She said flatly when both of them looked excited. "We go alone."

"But agent..." One of the woman stepped forward only to pause as Hollywood stepped between the questioners and Jane.

"Her name is 'Colonel'." Hollywood said flatly. "And she is trying to protect you. We do not know what is down there, but whatever it _is_ , it is likely dangerous." She had no weapon in hand, but the day any of Jane's team needed a _weapon_ to look dangerous, they would be sent for retraining with intense sarcasm speeding them on.

"But..." The speaking woman tried again and Hollywood shook her head.

"We have reports of traps as well as caverns with dangerous sections." Jane said quietly. "We cannot guarantee our _own_ safety down there. You would be in the way and a hazard to yourselves and us. We will let you know what we find when we return." She turned away and peered down into the hole that her team had blown to get her out of the ground. The house foundations went down a _long_ way and Jane's eyes narrowed as she saw something on one wall. She glanced at Syndrome and he nodded. He had seen the black and red hexagon too. Jane blew out a breath and nodded. "Duke. Deploy."

More than one of the onlookers gave a gasp as the hulking robot simply stepped right to the edge and then over it, plummeting into the darkness below. Jane did not relax, sending subordinates into a potential hot zone was never one of her enjoyable pastimes. Even if Duke wasn't human, he _was_ one of her team. She let out a breath as his voice came over her com.

"Distance to LZ, thirty meters from surface. No change from last visual. No hostiles. Ground is clear and secure." Duke reported and Jane nodded to her team. "Clear to deploy."

"Menace 1-5, you heard Duke. Deploy." Jane turned to the crowd and shook her head. "Everyone stay back from the hole. It is a _long_ way down to where we will land. You fall in and you are not going to get up after."

"What about the ropes?" One of the Resistance women asked as the team started sliding down.

" _You_ want to slide down thirty meters in the dark with bare hands on a rope?" Jane asked. " _I_ don't. That is an X-Com rope. It will hurt." She checked her armor's attachment points and clipped a karabiner onto the rope that was designated for her. "Oh and... um... word of advice. Don't sneak up on us. Wouldn't be healthy." The others shared a glance as Jane threw herself into the darkness.

"You know at least _one_ of them will try, Shogun." Syndrome's voice came out of nowhere, projected to her ears from his helmet mike.

"Hey, I warned them." Jane replied as she watched the walls, checking her descent with the skill of long practice.

"You didn't tell them that the spider weave will activate for anyone trying to follow us and pin them to the wall after ten meters or so." Syndrome said repressively.

"They never _asked_." Butter might not have melted in Jane's mouth even as muted snickers came from other teammates.

"Don't ever take up PR, Shogun." The psi said after a moment. "You would drive everyone into our enemies' hands."

"I think I resent that." Jane retorted even as her descent slowed.

She looked down and a cone of light was waving too and fro below her. She smiled. Duke was warding the LZ. The ground came up fast as it always did and she landed with her feet spread just right, taking the shock of impact on bent knees. She hit the quick release on her armor and her bolt caster was in hand before the rope had completely released from her armor. She hid a smile as she saw each and every member of her team taking the required spacing and direction, each covering his or her sector and just far enough apart that a single plasma grenade wouldn't get more than one of them. Dang, her team was good. Each of them dropped a chemlight that would provide enough illumination for their armor systems to see by. The tactical lights were mainly just for show.

"Clear." Syndrome said from his sector.

"Clear." Hollywood reported, the sniper's doubt erased by the mission.

"Clear." Feedback was calm and precise, just how you wanted medics to be. Excitable ones missed things and that could hurt. A lot.

"Clear." Beta said from where he knelt, eyes on the dark surroundings. Gone was the nerd. Here, he was all business.

"Clear." Duke's tone, as always was unhurried. She had seen him under fire from three different sources and just as calm. Sometimes she envied the machine. Not often, but sometimes.

"Clear." Jane said after she checked her own sector. "Okay, people. Hold here. I need to make contact." She checked her mind and Maya was still there, not sleeping, but not fully awake either. Drugged? She hoped not. The EXALT agent had to have some way to keep the kids in line, she just hoped it wasn't anything really bad. Advent had been creative on occasion when restraining prisoners and she hoped that EXALT hadn't seen some of what the aliens had tried. She could see one large opening nearby and lots of smaller ones, just as it had been described to her.

"I want my protest logged." Hollywood said quietly. "I do not like this."

"Noted." Jane replied without heat. She understood the sniper's feelings. Did she ever! But the mission and eighty six young lives came first.

The soldier stepped forward, her bolt caster tracking as she slid into the darkness, her weapon light leading the way. Nothing happened as she left the ring of chemical light. The others maintained position even as Jane stepped out into the unknown. She took five steps and then turned left. As she had been told, there was a rectangular hole in the wall. A spot where a door had been. She paused. There were marks on the wall next to where the door had been. Familiar marks. One did not survive long in this fallen world without seeing the residue of the war twenty years ago. Burn marks where plasma weapons had struck and a grim shadow that was likely all that was left of an unarmored human who had been a just a little too close to a plasma grenade.

"Definitely the right place." Jane commented over the team com. "Marks of old weapon's fire on the walls and this is definitely man made."

"We see EXALT markings in two places." Syndrome agreed. "Best guess is that this was the access lift. Looks like they blew it when attacked and dropped the whole room into this natural cavern that had to be below the lift."

"Didn't do them much good in the end." Feedback said soberly.

"That it didn't." Jane agreed. "Stay sharp people. I should be meeting my contact any moment." She stepped through the ruined door and paused. Another bolt caster sat on the floor in the middle of the room she could see. That one looked slipshod, as if built from scavenged parts. Jane tilted her head and spoke aloud. "Slither? Sam, Maya and their mother sent me."

"I am afraid." A voice Jane remembered came from the darkness. "You are frightening."

"I know. But you did not hurt me." Jane replied carefully. "I have no quarrel with you."

"You kill my kind." The voice from the darkness was moving around Jane. She did not look for it, instead looking straight forward. "Why ssshould I trussst?" The hisses were a bit off-putting, but Jane did not react.

"You should not." Jane smiled as the silence around her grew deep. She had confused the other. "My concern is the human children that Sam and Maya tell me are in trouble. Nothing more. You? Unless you attack me, you are not my problem. And from what you did before and the fact that a weapon is lying on the floor in front of me, I do not think you are going to attack me. Can you feel Maya's mind? She feels different now."

"You helped her in her dreamsss." The other hissed slightly, distress evident. "Ssshe said you sssaved her, Jane Kelly." Jane went totally still as a piece of the darkness oozed into the light from her weapon and sat there, looking at her. The small red and white Viper sat still and her head was slim, the hood contracted around her. "No matter how afraid I am, I mussst trussst or the children are doomed to whatever that crazzzy human will do to them." Her small hands were clasped in front of her as she sat, waiting for Jane's reaction.

"Yes." It took every ounce of self control Jane possessed, but she slowly lowered and then slung her bolt caster. She gingerly knelt down herself until she was on the same level as the small Viper. She could defend herself with her sword, but something told her that she was in no danger now. "As you say, I am Jane Kelly."

"The children call me 'Ssslither'." The Viper said and Jane fought to keep from smiling at the slightly dubious tone. "My kind do not generally have namesss. We are ssslaves to the onesss who attacked your world."

"So we have surmised." Jane agreed. "Their mind control is absolute in all who haven't been touched by the one who kept me from becoming a splatter on the floor of the cave." Slither made a motion that was obviously supposed to approximate a nod. It didn't quite work. "You can lead us to the kids?"

"I can lead you to the entrance of the bunker." Slither replied. "There are trapsss and dangerousss areasss, but I can lead you around them. Once at the bunker though, I cannot open the door."

"We _can_." Jane promised. "Do you know anything of the children's status?"

"I have touched two of their mindsss as well as Maya who contacted me to tell me you were coming." Slither said with another of the not-quite-a-nods. "They are mossstly asssleep. We placed them in what was apparently once a sssleeping facility. We prepared them for long sssleepsss before, when we were ssstill ssslavesss." Jane stiffened. Was that _shame_ in the snake woman's tone? "He hasss only been focused on Maya. I do not think your warning was heeded."

"Well, in that case..." Jane nodded to the other. "I think we better get there as quickly as possible." The other turned, but froze as Jane inhaled sharply. The scales on one side of the alien's body were blackened and burnt. "You are hurt."

"I will live." Slither said calmly.

"Did my team do that?" Jane demanded. The Viper did not answer. "Please. Did my team do that?"

"The passst is passst, Jane Kelly." Slither said with a small shake of the tip of her head. "I am unimpaired and your team has ssspent their livesss fighting beingsss like me. I do not blame them for reacting as they did."

"Let me see." Jane commanded and Slither seemed to wilt, but then slid closer to Jane so the soldier could examine the burnt patch carefully. "Without you, those kids do not have a chance. Are you in pain?"

"If I am, does it matter?" The Viper asked. "As you sssay, the kidsss are what isss important."

"It matters to me." Jane said flatly. "I am calling the team medic. She is good." She keyed a command into her HUD and Feedback acknowledged silently.

"Why would your team medic help me?" Slither asked, cross. She jerked as new light slid into the room and stopped on her.

"Because you are required to complete the mission." Jane said with a small, sad smile. "Neither of us is going to blindly trust the other. There is too much pain and loss in our history. _Both_ of our kinds. Feedback. One of you hit her."

"So I see." Feedback gulped. "Had to be Fridge. She was the only one with plasma weapons at that time."

"We need her, Feedback." Jane said quietly. "Think of her like a civilian specialist."

"Do not demand the impossible of your people." Slither said with a recognizably human snort. "I am not human and you cannot trust me." She laid herself out on the floor. "Do what you will with me."

"Feedback." Jane said flatly. The medic sighed and sling her rifle, unlimbering her medical gear.

"Our nanos are geared to humans, boss." Feedback said with a frown as she started to scan. Slither tensed, but relaxed when nothing else happened. The medic grimaced as her scans finished. "That has to hurt."

"We have _both_ been hit with plasma before, Feedback." Jane retorted. "It didn't _tickle_." A sound very much like a chuckle came from Slither and Feedback relaxed. "Do what you can for her. We need her."

"Good thing Fridge isn't here." Feedback said with a grunt as she started to work. "She would likely have a stroke." Fridge was very good at what she did, namely blowing things up. But she was not the calmest of people at the best of times.

"Most of our people would have problems with it." Jane replied as Slither relaxed under Feedback's ministrations. "We have been fighting for a long time. Hating is easy when the alternative is dying. Living can be hard." The Viper turned her head to eye Jane without moving the rest of her.

"Do you really mean that?" Slither asked. "I assumed that asss soon as I led you to the children, I would die." Feedback stiffened, but then continued her work.

"I do not know what will happen, Slither." Jane admitted. "You obviously care a great deal for the kids."

"I was programmed to." Slither said as Feedback finished up and retreated two steps. "The caretaker freed me as she freed all of them. Ssshe did not underssstand what ssshe was doing or why, just that they needed to learn, ssso ssshe taught them. It wasn't what the Elders wanted her to teach them."

"So they hurt her." Jane said quietly. Slither made the same nod like gesture and then looked at Feedback.

"Thank you, Medic Feedback." The Viper said calmly. "It is appreciated."

"You're welcome." Feedback shook her head as she looked at Jane. "If you had told me this morning that I would be doing something like that, I would have laughed in your face." She heaved an utterly fake sigh. "Never a dull moment."

"Come on." Jane bent down and picked up the other bolt caster before extending it to Slither who stared at it. "Trust has to begin somewhere."

"Indeed it doesss." Slither moved to one wall and picked up an X-Com style assault rifle with EXALT markings that she checked expertly. "That doesn't work. I could never get it to work."

Feedback stared from the Viper to Jane and back before laughing.

"I think I am going to _like_ you."

* * *

Deeper underground

It was a rather tense journey deep into the man made cavern. Hollywood never took her eyes off the form that was guiding them. Duke and Beta kept electronic senses peeled for traps. They had found quite a few, most of them defunct, but more than a few still live. Even twenty years old, many of the automated systems were still dangerous. Several of the paths that the Viper had intended to take were inaccessible for the team, so they had worked their way around carefully. Between the team's skill and the Viper's inhuman senses, they had managed to circumvent each trap without triggering it. Finally, Jane called a halt.

"It isss not far." The Viper was all but quivering in anticipation.

"That is why we need to stop and plan." Jane said and Slither stiffened and then made her peculiar nod. "Beta? Duke? Have you seen any signs of external surveillance?" The tech and the robot both replied in the negative. "They have to have something to know if enemies are coming."

"This place got seriously trashed during the war, Shogun." Syndrome said quietly, looking at the walls. Even here, the marks of fighting were many. "If this place as the absolute last refuge, then such things may-" He paused and stiffened. Slither hissed softly as well. "Boss, we have a problem."

Jane had already made a series of motions as soon as he had paused and the rest of the team dispersed silently taking up positions around the corridor.

"I hear Advent." Slither said softly. "At least four and a mech."

"Why would _they_ be here?" Holly wood demanded in a tone that was just above a whisper. Whispers carried. She wasn't aiming at Slither, but she wasn't aiming _far_ from the Viper either.

"They may have tracked usss." Slither was worried. "We worked hard to hide our trail, but neither of usss are trained for sssuch thingsss. I will lead them away." She did not draw the rifle at her back, but her hands moved as if she wanted to, then stopped as Jane coughed.

"Slither, this is our job." The ranger said as she checked her sword. "Besides, where there is _one_ team of Advent, there are likely more."

"Cockroachesss." Slither said quietly and everyone looked at her. "That is the right sssaying, no? The kids told me that if you sssee one and they are everywhere?"

"Yeah." Feedback was smiling even as the team checked their weapons.

"Let's _step_ on some Advent roaches!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Ambushes**

Jane and her team crept through the darkness as only highly trained killers could. It had taken a bit of discussion, but eventually Slither had accepted that Jane and her people could handle this without her and she was far too vital to the mission to put in danger. The Viper's hate of Advent rivaled any of Jane's troops and even Hollywood had been a bit taken aback by Slither's fervent desire to hurt the scum.

In the end though, the Viper had accepted the fact that Jane's people were better trained and equipped for this. She had admitted that while she had learned to fieldstrip and maintain the ballistic rifle she had found in the bunker, she was nowhere near the team's level of accuracy. In addition, she only had three magazines for it. Jane's team had far more ammunition as well as far better training and their plasma weapons matched anything that any of the aliens had ever put on the field. That said, Slither hadn't been happy about it.

Jane put the Viper out of her mind as she saw light ahead. Her visor autocorrected for the rising light levels and she saw the sources. As Slither had said, four Advent and a mech. It looked like one of their heavier mechs, far better armored than the common models. She catalogued the four Advent with a glance. Advanced Officer, Heavy Stun Lancer, Rocketeer and... She paused. She didn't know the last kind. She motioned the team to move into position and indicated a query at the last Advent. All of them shook their heads -even Duke-, none of them had seen that kind of trooper before.

Advent was supposed to be on the ropes, all but beaten. They were not supposed to be fielding new kinds of troops. She scrutinized the odd soldier as her team moved closer to the Advent who were focused on a wall nearby. No! That wasn't a wall! That was a huge armored _door_! The kind you might see on a hangar for _aircraft_. The Officer was examining the door closely and the mech plus the three others were providing cover for the Officer. Was that another way into the bunker? Slither had said that the entrance she knew as three hundred meters away and this team was less than hundred meters from where they had paused.

Jane set the oddities out of her mind as she took up position. She would initiate the ambush, but she wanted to get closer. Her Bolt Caster was effective at nearly any range, but her accuracy suffered. She knew that Beta would target the mech, probably to hack it or disable it for a time. Hollywood would hit the Stun Lancer to keep the close range combatant from closing. Syndrome would almost certainly used his Fuse power on the Rocketeer. That would really hurt that trooper and anyone close to him as his own munitions cooked off. She indicated for Duke to target the Officer and he nodded his massive head once. That left the unknown for Feedback and herself. That seemed a fair distribution, but in these conditions, cover was fairly scarce and the rock faces down here would not protect very well from Advent railgun fire.

Her team was all in position and ready as she slid closer. Jane had a moment of shock as the unknown trooper spun to stare at her and then shouted an incomprehensible phrase even as he brought his railgun rifle up. A sense of unreality settled over Jane even as-

Whip!

Jane was suddenly standing three meters to the left of where she had been and she stared at the long prehensile thing that slid back into the darkness nearby even as railgun rounds tore through where she had just been. She hadn't even thought to draw her sword! She slid behind a stalagmite as plasma fire and psionic energy tore into the Advent ranks, a Gremlin darting forward toward the mech even as she took aim at the unknown Trooper who had detected her somehow.

Duke's first burst caught the Officer before the alien hybrid could even rise to his feet completely, tearing through his armor and throwing his smoldering corpse to the side. Hollywood's shot was just as perfect. No one sane tried for head shots in firefights and her center mass Lance pulse tore through the Stun Lancer the same as Duke's Elerium Phase Cannon had the Officer. Even as Jane turned to look at the Rocketeer, the Advent soldier jerked in apparent panic. Jane had to smile. Syndrome. Sure enough, a resounding explosion sounded and when the smoke cleared, only the Trooper's _boots_ were left, a little of one leg sticking up as a macabre indicator that an alien hybrid had been there.

The unknown form of Advent trooper was darting for cover now even as Feedback's fire sought it. Jane took aim and-

"Shit!" Beta's curse had everyone's attention as the mech suddenly whirred louder. "Look out!"

The warning came too late. The mech had targeted Hollywood who dove for the floor as fire sought her. The sniper had taken position far back in the corridor and there hadn't been any cover there. She had hoped that distance would provide protection. It did not. She screamed as heavy railgun rounds that might have made holes in a tank shredded her armor and threw her to the ground. Her vitals on Jane's HUD dipped alarmingly, but remained visible. She was badly hurt, but not dead.

"Hollywood!" Feedback screamed and her Gremlin darted towards the fallen sniper even as the team's fire converged on the mech. Jane ignored that. The unknown trooper was moving and she took aim, but he wasn't aiming at any of the team! He was aiming to the side and bringing his weapon up. He never saw the bolt that slammed into him, throwing his lifeless body into the cave wall.

Jane reloaded automatically even as the Advent mech whirred under the barrage from the rest of the team. Advent must have _heavily_ armored the thing. It was taking fire that might have dropped a _Sectopod_. Jane stiffened as it aimed. At Hollywood's still form!

"NO!" A familiar voice screamed even as the mech fired and something moved between the mech and its target. The dark form took the burst of railgun rounds that had been aimed at Hollywood, deflecting them.

Jane felt her heart fall out of her chest as Slither fell over, her midsection coated in gore even as the mech finally exploded. She was in motion before anyone else, dropping to her knees beside the stricken Viper.

"Slither." Jane felt faint as she stared at the horrific wounds on the alien form. "You _idiot_!"

"Door..." Slither moaned. "Two hundred metersss west. Fifty metersss, beware. An abysss room then trapsss. Go." She pleaded even as Hollywood rose, healed by Feedback's Gremlin. Jane shook her head, looking up at Feedback whose face said it all. There was no way to heal the horrific wounds on something that wasn't human with the tech they had.

"We need you." Jane said flatly as she held out a hand to Feedback anyway who pressed a medikit into it.

"I am sssorry I disssobeyed." Slither did not react as Jane worked. "I couldn't jussst sssit and _watch_ one of you _die_."

"Saved my ass." Jane said with a gulp. "Let me try to save yours."

"Sssave your medical gear." Slither was fading and her voice was nearly inaudible now. "I am an abomination. Neither Advent, nor alien, nor anything elssse. All I wanted was to help my friendsss." She gasped as the mist of nanites swept around her and then relaxed. "It doesssn't hurt now. That isssn't good, isss it?"

"I don't know." Feedback said weakly even as Jane worked the controls on the medikit.

"Isss Hollywood okay?" Slither asked, her tone oddly calm.

"Yeah." Hollywood sounded awful. Then again, she _looked_ just as bad as she sounded, but she was on her feet even with bloody holes blown through her armor. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Slither said and then coughed. A thin green slime trickled form her mouth and Jane bowed her head, acknowledging her defeat. The Viper's tone turned sly. "Ssseriousssly, _don't_. You _kill_ aliensss. Your reputation... would sssuffer." Jane had to smile despite the horror of the situation.

"You may look like an alien." Hollywood knelt stiffly by the fallen Viper. "But you are not one." She took Slither's left hand in both of her own. "Sister."

"I..." Slither heaved once and then lay still, her eyes filming. No one moved as Hollywood reached out to touch the still head and bowed her own. For a long moment, there was utter silence in the dark corridor.

"Her name goes on the wall." Hollywood said flatly. Everyone looked at her, even Duke. She glared at them all. "Don't you _dare_ argue with me! She died fighting them. Her name goes on the wall!" None of them would meet her eyes as she bowed her head again.

None outside of X-Com would ever know how many names were on the Memorial Wall that graced the bar that adjoined the armory of the Avenger. No one would ever know the sacrifices that so many had made to save humanity. Anyone could add a name, but it had better be legitimate or there would be hell to pay when the teams found out. For this? If anyone at _all_ had a problem with it, they could come talk to Jane and Hollywood. Such a conversation would _not_ end well.

"Her name goes on the wall." Jane agreed and she saw agreement in every face she could read. Even Duke nodded. "Hollywood? Status?"

"I am mobile." Hollywood said with a grimace as she straightened up. Her left arm bent stiffly as she tried it and she shook her head. "Hurts and I won't be shooting accurately with the Lance again. Feedback does good work, but that shot hit me hard. I will need more than battlefield repairs." She looked at the still Viper and then at Jane. "We can't just leave her here."

"Can you carry her?" Jane asked. Instead of answering, Hollywood bent down and slung the fallen alien with her good arm. "Let me know if you need a break. She saved me too." Hollywood nodded and started off, her pace slower than usual, but steady. "Beta. The door?"

"Sorry about the mech, boss. New encryptions." Beta started and she waved his apology aside. She didn't have time now for recriminations.

"Check the door." Jane commanded. "Everyone else, police the area. See if we can find anything about that new troop type." Beta nodded and moved to the door.

"High end sensors to see _you_ move." Syndrome was bent over the Officer's corpse and straightened as she looked at him. "Some kind of sentry, I bet."

"Cost us enough." Jane said with a sigh. "Anything?"

"No." The psi replied. "I don't sense any more Advent anywhere nearby, but there have to be more. They do not deploy is such small groups."

"She said there was an abyss room and then traps." Jane frowned. Abyss rooms were no joke at all. Humans had been falling into holes in the ground since the dawn of recorded human history. Underground it was no different except that with the darkness so absolute it was hard to see where the floor ended and emptiness began.

"Well, we are definitely in the right place, Shogun." Syndrome nodded to the door and Jane turned to see his tactical light illuminating a huge EXALT emblem blazoned on it. "They were not subtle about things down here. Compensating maybe?" Jane snickered and relaxed, which was probably his intent.

"What I do not understand is how the hell they planned to get anything out that door." Jane scrutinized the area and shook her head. "There is no way anything so large it needs a door that size can move through these caves."

"Unless of course, they planned to make a _really_ big hole." Syndrome said quietly. Jane winced and nodded.

"All the way to the surface? The kind of hole that would leave very little of the town above us." Jane agreed and Syndrome nodded. "Beta?" She called and the tech shook his head.

"Door controls are slag, boss." The tech said with a shrug. "Far as I can tell, it has never been opened."

"You see any sign of demolitions of any kind?" Jane asked and everyone stopped what they were doing for a moment. Beta stiffened and shook his head. "Check. Duke, full scan, but careful."

"'Careful' use of active sensor arrays is something that Engineer Shen has been known to say is similar to 'flying casual'." The robot replied and Jane had to smile at that. She could just hear the engineer saying such things.

"Try not to pulse in any detonator frequencies." Jane retorted and the team made faces, but went back to what they were doing. Hollywood looked a bit green but shook her head when Jane looked at her.

"Holy..." Beta's soft word stopped everything again. "Ah,...Boss... We do _not_ want to open that door. _Ever_."

"How big?" Jane asked when the tech did not continue. "Duke, discontinue scans."

"Not sure." Beta swallowed. "I _think_ about a megaton. Set to blow straight up from what I can tell." At that, everyone winced again. Even Duke seemed to shudder as his scans shut down. "No way to disable it from this side."

"Okay. We go around." Jane said with a sigh. "Slither said there is an abyss room and traps. So, staggered order and no one out of sight. Syndrome? Should we rope up?"

"With Advent in the caves, we need to be ready to find cover fast so I would say 'No'. Just watch where you put your feet." Syndrome said after a moment's thought. "I can't sense any more Advent close by, but we all know how fast that can change."

"Right. If you sense them, let us know. Preferably _before_ we walk into their midst. We will need to file a report on that new troop type, but for now staggered formation." Jane commanded. "Move out."

The team started off, Duke leading as usual. Syndrome followed with Hollywood and her burden close behind. Feedback followed the hurt sniper and Beta was close behind her. Jane brought up the rear, her eyes roving everywhere in trained patterns.

It was an uneventful but stressful walk to the room that Slither had described. No one was going to relax at all with Advent in the caves. No one was that suicidal. Duke stopped at the edge of the abyss and Jane whistled silently as she saw his light vanish into the gloom.

"Drop a flare?" Syndrome asked.

"I want to." Jane replied. "But that wouldn't be wise with Advent lurking around, I don't think. Duke, can you get a read on the bottom with your laser designator?"

"Affirmative." The robot replied. A moment and it spoke again. "Bottom is irregular. Depth varies between seventy five point four and two hundred six point eleven meters. Ledges protrude at irregular intervals but structurally are unsound. A fall would be ill advised."

"Watch your step. Wouldn't be able to patch _that_ up." Feedback muttered and everyone looked at her."Sorry."

"You see the way out?" Jane asked Duke who nodded. "Can we get to it?"

"Yes, but this unit is far too massive for the ledge you will need to traverse." Duke looked at Hollywood. "This unit can use its jump jets to travel once the team has crossed. I will carry our fallen comrade and allow you to travel unhindered." Hollywood looked mulish for a moment but Jane shook her head and the sniper nodded reluctantly. She passed the Viper to Duke who took the still form and seemed to pause for a moment before continuing. "This unit will await your crossing."

There wasn't anything else to say. Jane wasn't hat fond of heights, but after all of the other crazy things she had done in her life, a little stroll on a narrow ledge through a pitch black cave with a sheer drop on one side and a rugged cliff on the other was child's play. They went one at a time and each shined their light at their feet, picking their way with care. Only after each had made it safely to the other side did Duke leap into the chasm, his jump jets igniting, tossing him to land easily beside the team. The SPARK unit handed the still Viper to Hollywood who took her burden again without comment.

"Show off." Syndrome said with a grunt as he checked the area ahead with both light and mind. No enemies appeared.

Jane waved the team forward and they started off. Syndrome, Feedback, Beta, Hollywood, Duke and then Jane followed. Jane was tense, but she could not have said _why_. The team was on guard for traps and found two quickly, both fairly low tech, but effective. One was a large sheet of rock that was leaned oddly. It was perched precariously enough that the slightest pressure would likely send it crashing down on anyone caught in the area. Even Duke might have difficulty with such a mass of rock. What it would do to humans, even in armor, wasn't worth mentioning. The second trap was more worrying.

"Haven't seen one of these in a long time." Jane said as she carefully disarmed the Claymore mine and then cut the micro thin tripwire that connected the landmine to the far wall of the cave. If not for Duke's and Beta's advanced sensors, one of the team might have found the mine the hard way. It wasn't a tech problem and no one else had the knowledge to handle it. She finalized the disarming and then paused. Something wasn't right. She stared at the mine and then reached out to touch it. It fell over. It was _empty_! The mine case was a decoy! She had just tripped- "Oh crap."

Jane's soft expletive was too late. The corridor filled with energy.


	13. Chapter 13

**Allies and enemies**

Trained reflexes took over. Even as the energy washed over Jane, she curled into a ball to protect her vitals even as psychic rage tore into her.

 _ **YOU KILLED SLITHER!**_

It was not one voice, it was many. Male and female. All _angry._ The sheer power of the words caused Jane to scream in sympathetic pain even as she felt the pressure suddenly ease.

 _We did not._ Syndrome's calm voice parted the anger and pain like a knife. _We came to help you and she helped us, even at the cost of her own life._

 _ **You LIE!**_

 _No._ Jane managed to focus herself and spoke as Syndrome did. Even though she wasn't a psi, she had a connection that could not be denied. _We are not lying. Can you feel my mind?_ She asked and gasped as alien thoughts tore through her. _Not... so rough._ Something wrapped around her and she relaxed as the power ebbed a little.

 _You._ The minds were less angry, but now sadness was foremost. _Mom wanted to talk to you. She helped you? As she helped us?_

 _Yes._ Jane tried to open her mind as she had to the other mind that had inhabited her, but then bit back a scream as pain flared in her mind. _I..._

 _Jane! Stop._ Here, there was no chance of miscommunication. Syndrome's voice was strong and totally in charge here. _You will hurt yourself that way. Let them do it. Let them in._

 _I don't know what I am doing!_ Jane snapped.

 _I do._ Syndrome said softly and something cool and soft wrapped tighter around Jane's mind. She moaned in relief as the pain faded. _Easy, kids. She isn't a psi. She doesn't have any protection from the energy we have. You can and will hurt her if you press too hard._

 _We are trapped._ The minds pressing Jane were scared now. _You have to help us! Mom wanted you to help us. She sent Slither to get you to help us! But Mom is gone. We cannot hear her._

 _We are here to help._ Jane said into the warmth that surrounded her. She could hear her words echoing oddly. _She sent us to help. We told Slither to let_ **us** _fight, but she wouldn't stay out of it. Advent killed her._

 _ **Advent.**_ The sheer rage and pain in the word bit into Jane even through whatever was protecting her and she stifled a whimper even as Syndrome barked at the others.

 _You are_ **hurting** _her!_ The psi scolded and the minds withdrew. _We are here to help. Will you let us?_

 _We do not know what to do._ The others retreated further, leaving Jane to sob quietly in relief. _We don't mean to be bad. We are sorry._ The ache in the minds was heartfelt and Jane felt her eyes burn with pain that wasn't physical.

 _We are here to help._ Jane tried for a soothing tone and the others responded with calmer thoughts. _You are trapped, you said?_ Fear increased, but it was muted, not hurting Jane now.

 _We cannot get out of the room we are in._ _There is food and water and beds, but we cannot get out._ The minds replied as one. _He took Saun and Julian. We cannot hear them now. Maya is different. She isn't like she was._

 _Wait? What? Maya?_ Jane demanded. _He hurt her_ **again** _?_ This time the _others_ fled back from _her_ anger.

 _You._ The others sounded awed now. _You were the one in her dream._ _The scary woman who made him scream._ Syndrome's mental chuckle had Jane snarling at him.

 _Yeah. She is scary when she gets angry._ Syndrome said with a grin in his voice. _So, word of advice? Don't make her angry. You wouldn't like her when she gets angry._

 _Syndrome?_ Jane kept her tone light but his mental tone stiffened. _See Jane run..._ **See** _Jane beat the everliving_ **crap** _out of you when we get out of here._ She could feel the incredulous scrutiny of the other minds mixed with a bit of amusement.

 _Oh shit..._ Syndrome actually gulped and spoke quickly. _No offense, boss. None intended at all. You know I didn't mean to be a-_

 _ **Language**_ _!_ The ranger snapped and Syndrome recoiled, then sent an apologetic thought. _They are kids, Syndrome. I will_ **not** _have you corrupting them. I am not their mother, but I am standing for her since she is not here. Understand?_ She snapped, any semblance of patience fled.

 _Yes, Ma'am._ For once, there was no insolence in the psi's tone at all.

 _Good._ Jane turned her attention to the minds who had been watching this all with a mixture of awe and trepidation. _My name is Jane Kelly. I am not a psi. I am not here to hurt you or punish you for anything that you do not deserve. I am here to help. I brought a team of soldiers but I need information. You say Maya is... different?_ She queried.

 _My name is Mina._ A solitary, scared female voice sounded and Jane was instantly drawn to her. _Maya is my sister. We are twins. But I cannot feel her now. She was scared and said she felt weird. Then her mind went blank. She came in to get Saun and Julian and it_ **wasn't her** _! It wasn't!_

 _What do you mean 'it wasn't her', Mina?"_ Jane kept her tone calm and considered even as fear started to rise in her mind. She knew the kids could feel that, but if she remained calm, so would they. She hoped.

 _It was her body, but she wasn't there!_ Mina was crying and Jane sighed.

 _Syndrome, can I extend at all?_ Jane asked the psi. _Touch her? Comfort her?_

 _Not without causing you harm._ Syndrome replied and gasped as Jane did it anyway. _Jane! No!_

Mina gave a gasp as Jane's mind grasped hers gently. She pulled the girl's mind close and held her as she sobbed. Pain flared in Jane's mind, but she ignored it as she ignored all pain. She had a job to do.

 _You are hurting yourself!_ Mina protested, but did not struggle. Indeed, she did not move at all as Jane soothed her as she had once been soothed by another mind.

 _I don't care._ Jane said as Mina calmed in her grasp. _All of you. Your mom sent me to help. I will. I promise._

 _Jane!_ Syndrome snapped. _Enough. Feedback, pull her out._

Something tore Jane from Mina. The girl was wailing in loss and fear even as Jane slammed back into her body. She surged up from the floor, striking at the psi who knelt nearby. She was screaming in rage even as three sets of hands grabbed hold of her, keeping her from beating the psi black and blue despite his armor. Something hissed and she relaxed against her will.

"Ow." Syndrome had his mask up and he worked his jaw, touching it where Jane had connected. "You hit hard, boss."

"She needed more help!" Jane managed through the haze of drugs and anger.

"We can help her by getting to her and getting rid of the scum who has them trapped." Syndrome replied evenly. "Shogun. Calm down."

"You had no _right_ -" Jane started only to pause as Syndrome's eyes flashed. A bad sign of his own temper.

"You are _not_ their mother!" The psi said flatly. "Stop acting like they are _your_ kids! They are _not_." Jane flushed and thought about that for a moment. Then she nodded.

"I am not their mother." Jane agreed, manifestly against her will. "I seem to have been altered a bit by my passenger. Her concern for them is still present in me. I don't know if she did it intentionally or not. I may have absorbed it simply by being so close to her mind. Or, I _could_ see her being that sneaky to save them."

"Could be either, true. No way to know here and now. Either way, we need to get the kids out of there. Now more than ever if that scum is experimenting on them." Syndrome said with a nod. "You back?"

"Still going to hurt you." Jane said with a growl.

"She is back." Feedback said with a chuckle as Syndrome winced. "Can you sense these 'others' you say were talking to you and Shogun, Syndrome?"

"They are curious, but not pressing. Not angry anymore. Shogun was extremely persuasive." Syndrome's tone held disapproval. "Even if it _should_ have killed her doing what she did."

"Bite me." Shogun shrugged out of the hands that held her and stood up. She was still in the corridor where she had missed the sophisticated trap hidden by the antique one. That hadn't been an EXALT trap though. She had done some research on that organization, its tactics and known weapons. No, the rock fall and that mine were sneaky and underhanded, but not EXALT methods. More what she would expect of the kids' mother and Slither. She slumped as she looked at the still Viper that lay nearby. The rest of the team looked no more worse for wear than they had.

"No." The psi moved to the wall and slid his mask back on. "You would taste terrible." A series of snickers came from the others, but the ranger and psi ignored them.

"Okay, slow and careful." Jane said with a frown as she scrutinized the tunnel. "Slither said 'traps' but not how many." Syndrome stiffened and she looked at him. "They just told you, didn't they?"

"Feedback dosed you with a psi blocker." Syndrome said after a moment. "If you connect again, it can and will kill you. I will translate." He slumped a bit. "Maya's sister is crying. I am trying to apologize, but she is rather upset with me."

"So am I." Jane wasn't about to let him forget her promise to hurt him. Because that was what it _had_ been. She _would_. "Well, let's get to her physically and I can comfort her without the risk of you having to take over."

"Not funny." Syndrome's tone was cold and hard. Jane eyed him and he relaxed. "I know it wasn't meant to be, but... Oh man... Trying to be on my best behavior because of the kids is gonna _suck_." Jane just smiled and he winced. "One more trap, a lot like this one. It activates a psionic alarm and allows the gestalt of the minds to lash out at whoever or _what_ ever trips it. Sneaky. Such a psionic lash as hit us would slay Advent outright I think with the psionic network they all share."

"Makes sense." Jane allowed as she started off, bolt caster tracking where her eyes went. "They were more worried about Advent coming after them." The team followed her, each with weapons ready except Hollywood with her sad burden.

* * *

The next trap was far more obvious when she was looking. It was a broken child's toy that lay against one wall. It was completely out of place in the dark tunnel. Jane eyed it and then ignored it as Syndrome nodded to her. She gave a sniff and continued on. Anyone who picked that up would get what they deserved.

"Any more?" Jane asked as she continued cautiously down the tunnel.

"They say "no'." Syndrome said after a moment. "But we have no idea what EXALT did or planned. They were evil, not stupid."

"True." Jane came to a stop as the corridor did. A heavily armored hatch with the EXALT logo emblazoned on it blocked the way. "Beta. Duke. Check for sensors, traps, the usual." The tech and the robot stepped up to her and started their scans. "Hollywood?"

"I am good." The sniper laid the Viper down at her feet and motioned to Feedback. "Doc? Is there any chance she is still alive? I could swear I felt her moving a couple of times."

"I don't think so." Feedback frowned, but unlimbered her scanner anyway. "I don't know her physiology. I read the autopsy reports Tygan sent out, but that was it. She is not like the regular Vipers in a lot of ways."

"If there is _any_ chance, doc..." Hollywood said softly. Feedback looked at her and nodded. Jane moved to where Duke was standing, his Bit sweeping over the door from a safe distance.

"Duke. Psi security protocol Aleph Nine." Jane kept her voice low. "You paused when you took Slither from Hollywood. What did you detect?" Duke did not turn or react. Instead, text appeared on her HUD, a highly secure communication channel being used. She only used it when enemies might be listening to her mind. Duke made a _hell_ of an equalizer against any psi, since he was immune to most of their powers. He had ruined a _lot_ of Sectoids' days.

-The Viper's body contains unknown cybernetic modifications.- Duke reported. -There are no life signs, but the cybernetic signals originated in the cranial area. No trackers or sensors were detected or they would have been reported.-

"That is good." Jane mused as Syndrome shot a glance at her. She shook her head and he relaxed a little. "Duke... Psi Protocol One is now in effect until return to Avenger. Code: Zero Zero Zero Psi Zero" Duke did not react and Syndrome jerked as the robot replied.

-Acknowledged.- That simple word made Jane feel better even as Syndrome glared at her. She nodded to Beta who didn't even see her and moved to Syndrome whose look was molten.

"You didn't need to do that." Syndrome said flatly. "We are not subverted."

Psi Protocol One was ironclad X-com procedure in case of mind control. _Any_ X-Com soldier could be targeted freely if they became a threat to the team or the organization due to enemy psionic influence. If the whole team fell to alien mind control, Duke was now authorized -indeed, _commanded!_ \- to kill them _all_.

"Yet." Jane's calm word had the psi pausing. "I may be compromised. _You_ may be. EXALT needs to go down and we are the best equipped for it. These others..." She blew out a deep breath. "Hope for the best and plan for the worst."

"And usually get something in the middle." Syndrome groaned but nodded. "I have not sensed any duplicity, Shogun." He cautioned. "Do not let paranoia rule."

"It is not paranoia when people and aliens _are_ out to get us." Jane retorted. She shook her head. "How are the kids?"

"Shocky." Syndrome had a frown in his voice. "I have been talking to one. His name is Chris and he seems to be the most powerful of all of them. They learned how to combine their minds with their mother's help to defend her from Advent. Was a _hell_ of a shock to the interrogators from what they have said. A terminal one."

"My heart bleeds." Jane snorted when Syndrome did and spoke again. "So...Maya has been subverted somehow. Two others?"

"Probably drugs or brainwashing. If so, we can fix that." Syndrome offered. Jane did not react. "Shogun..."

"Did you read the files?" Jane asked and Syndrome nodded. "Then you know how their agents reacted to possible capture." Syndrome winced heavily and Jane nodded. "We can hope they haven't done the full indoctrination, whatever it was. X-Com never got a good read on that. No prisoners and little physical evidence."

"Shogun." The psi said softly. "The kids know that EXALT is evil. They want to help." Jane just looked at him and he blew out a deep breath. "Yeah. Me too. I will try to convince them." He did not sound enthusiastic.

"Shogun." Beta's soft query had Jane turning to him. "Good news and bad news."

"Bad news like 'Mech not hacked! Oh dear!'?" Hollywood asked sarcastically and the tech flushed.

"Hollywood." Jane said flatly and the sniper slumped with a nod. "You can get it open?" She asked the tech.

"We can open the door without explosives." Beta was frowning through. "Thing is, there is an alarm rigged to the inside. No way we get in undetected. Can't shut it off from outside."

"Any cameras? Mikes?" Jane asked. Beta shook his head. "That doesn't make a lot of sense to me." She mused.

"This doesn't look like exterior access." Beta replied, Jane looked at him and he shook his head. "EXALT used different hatches, locks, for exterior and interior access. Same as we do."

"Stands to reason, they stole most of what they had from us." Jane agreed. "And?"

"This looks a lot like what I remember seeing in vids about what was on the doors of the secure workshops at the original X-Com base." Beta turned to scrutinize the door. "If it is a workshop... then..." He broke off. "I dunno."

"Maybe prototypes?" Feedback asked. The others looked at her and she shrugged. "First thing that came to mind."

"Not a bad thought." Jane paused. "Actually., it _might_ be bad for us. If they have prototype weapons... and kids brainwashed to use them... Syndrome?"

"I am getting nothing through the hatch, boss." The psi was not happy about that. "Some kind of blocking material is my guess. Either EXALT put it here or the others did. Either way, we need to go in."

"Right." Jane took a deep breath. "Hollywood, you are Charlie. Everyone else, set up to breach."

Duke moved to the door, Jane right behind him. His bulk would shield the team from any fire that came at them and the bolt caster was the best quick firing one shot stopping power they had at the moment with Hollywood unable to shoot her lance. Syndrome, Beta and Feedback took up places as Hollywood flattened herself against one wall. Jane nodded to Beta and he hit a control on his pad.

The door slid open and Duke trotted in, Jane slid around him to aim one way while the others also took their sectors. Hollywood stayed outside, her Beam pistol in the hand not encumbered by the dead Viper. No enemies presented themselves and... no alarm.

"Beta." Jane said flatly.

"Silent alarm." Beta replied, tense. "It went off, we just can't hear it. I can disable-" He reached of a nearby console but all of them turned as a clanking sound came and a large, bulky form strode into view.

"Unauthorized access." The voice was mechanical, but sounded sort of young and male. A small human head was showing at the top of the human shaped machine, encased in an archaic looking helmet. His face was blank. His arms and legs were encased in metal! Jane noted that the armor that he wore had a familiar red and black hexagon insignia on it even as he lowered a large multi-barreled weapon to aim at the team. Jane's eyes went huge as a wheeled form appeared behind it. A human head peered out at them, but again, the boy's face under the helmet was blank. That metal form also bore EXALT insignia and had a large bore weapon that was aligning with the team.

"Oh crap."


	14. Chapter 14

**EXALT**

Jane was about to fire when Syndrome spoke.

"Saun, Julian? Stand down. We are not enemies." He had lowered his Scramgun. "Is Maya available? We need to talk to her." His eyes were glowing. What was he _doing?_

"Unauthorized access." The robot form stated again. Duke shifted to aim at it and it aimed at the X-Com bot in turn. "Intruders are not in database." Jane forced her mind to work again and spoke.

"Situation has changed." She could feel the team's incredulity even without psi powers. Syndrome gave her a tiny nod. "Access _is_ authorized. Request permission to present authorization."

"Negative." The boy robot replied in the monotone he had. "Intruders withdraw or face lethal force in ten seconds. Nine. Eight..." But something was off and Jane had a feeling she knew what it was. She felt a sensation inside her, intense relief. It wasn't from the other minds, no. Those were blocked to her. This was inside her. _Part_ of her.

"Maya." Jane said softly as she lowered her weapon and stepped forward. "If you shoot at us, it will make us mad. Are you all right?" Both robots whirred and...shut down?

"Jane Kelly." The relieved mechanical sounding voice came from a hidden speaker somewhere near the ceiling. "I... I remember you. You..." A scream tore from the speakers and a furious male voice sounded.

"You _will_ obey! Kill the intruders! EXALT _will_ rule!" The voice was familiar and Jane felt her blood start to boil. "Disobedient brat! You _will_ obey!" Another mechanical scream sounded from Maya and Jane had heard enough.

"Beta! Duke! Secure those bots but try not to hurt them! Everyone else. On me!" Jane took off at a run despite Syndrome's curse. She had no doubt that the others were right on her heels as she ran through corridors that were both unknown and painfully familiar. A door nearby marked 'dorm' called to her, but she ignored that. She had a more important task. She darted out into a larger room and stopped short, horrified despite years of fighting aliens and Advent.

The room was a hangar. The large ship was just as Lily had described it. Two engine nacelles, two weapons beside a blocky, brick like control section. EXALT marking. That paled beside what was beside it. A small box sat next to the ship, connected to it with a number of cables. The box in turn was connected to a chair in which a little girl sat. Jane instantly knew it was Maya even never having seen the girl before in the flesh. The girl wore an EXALT jumpsuit and a number of tubes ran into her body from bags hung around the chair. A oddly lumpy head covering surmounted a circlet of metal on her head. Both of her wrists and both of her ankles were strapped to the chair.

"You _sick_ _ **fuck**_." Jane snarled as the man in grubby EXALT attire spun to stare at her. She brought her bolt caster up, but he darted behind Maya. "You are _dead_ this time. You hear me! _Dead_!" She paused and smiled. "And it _will_ take _days_."

"You!" The scream of terror behind Maya was cut short as Jane's team fanned out behind her. " _You_ hurt me! I am trying to save humanity and you _hurt_ me!"

"No, you are not." Jane kept her tone conversational as she looked from side to side. There was very little cover to be had and her team was using most of it. "You are trying to seize control of humanity as EXALT always did and failed."

-He is...stalling... you- Maya's mechanical voice came from the _box_! -He has taken control... I cannot... Kill me! Now!-

"Maya." Jane said softly. "Do you trust me?"

-Yes.- Maya's tone, even mechanical, was warm.

"Good." Jane aimed at the side of the ship and fired her bolt caster. It wasn't easy to ricochet a bolt made of energy. They tended to go straight _through_ things. But Jane had learned on projectile weapons and the ability to bank her shots had come in very handy at many times in her life. She had counted on the side of the ship being harder than her bolt's armor penetration and had won that gamble. A scream sounded and the team was running towards the ship as Jane reloaded. The team surrounded the area and took aim even as the agent fell out of cover, his leg a bloody mess.

"You lose!" The EXALT agent said weakly as he stabbed a hypo of some kind towards his neck, but froze in place, purple energy flaring around him. "What? No!"

"You and the lady have a _date_." Syndrome's calm voice was somehow an awful thing. "Would be rude to stand her up." Jane ignored that, kicking out and connecting to the hand with the hypo. It flew away to shatter on the hard deck. Jane stepped up and slammed the stock of her bolt caster into the agent's stunned face, knocking him unconscious. Syndrome chuckled without mirth. "Well, that is a first. No one ever managed to take an EXALT prisoner before."

"Secure him." Jane turned to where Maya sat on the chair, her face slack. "Maya?"

-I am being uploaded- The mechanical voice from the box was scared. -I am losing myself. Help!-

"Maya!" Jane commanded. "What do I do? How do I _stop_ this?"

-I don't _know!_ \- Maya pleaded, her voice cutting off into a rasping of mechanical static.

"Maya!" Jane demanded. "Feedback! Help!" She took hold of the tubes connected to Maya, but Feedback was there, pushing her away.

"She is not dead, Shogun." Feedback said firmly. "Back off and let me work." Jane bit back a snarl and took three steps back from the medic who nodded to her and started examining Maya's still form.

"We have this, Shogun." Syndrome's voice was mild as he looked at her. "Go."

"But..." Jane shook her head savagely, but Syndrome stepped up and gave her a shove towards the door. "Syndrome!"

"We _have_ this." Syndrome repeated. "We will secure the EXALT, the craft and the robots. Feedback will do what she can for Maya. There is one thing that only _you_ can do. She touched you. Go."

"I am putting you on report for insubordination." Jane said with a scowl. Syndrome didn't even bother to shrug. It wouldn't do any good for her to file a report and she knew it. He had _hundreds_ of such reports in his file, but he was far too useful to be benched even temporarily.

Jane felt her steps hesitate as she left the hangar and turned towards the door marked 'dorm'. She wasn't sure she wanted to do this. She wasn't sure at all. Facing aliens, Advent, robots, even EXALT hadn't been this hard. Hollywood stood near the door, Slither's still form in her hands. Her face was professionally blank, but Jane could read the pain in her posture.

"Sit down before you fall down." Jane said flatly as she moved to the door. It was a standard overridden lock from years ago, child's play for any X-Com operative but essentially unbreachable from the other side. Hollywood set the Viper down and sat, her face still blank. "I will let you know when it is safe to come in."

"She saved me." Hollywood said softly. "I owe her."

"Me too." Jane keyed the lock open and stepped through before she could think about it. Beyond, there was utter silence. The room was large, but it seemed small. Two doors led away, marked 'latrine' and 'mess'. Dozens of bunks sat against each wall and in orderly rows across the room. Almost every bunk had a small form on it. Each head was turned toward her as she stepped in, a lump in her throat. Jane took a deep breath and spoke.

"I am sorry I scared you. Mina needed help." Jane found herself at a loss for words and waited. One tiny form stood up from her bed and walked towards Jane, her face blank. She looked a lot like Maya. "Mina. Your mom is alive. She is helping us with a problem and couldn't come. I came instead."

Mina did not speak. She walked up to Jane and held out her arms. Jane reached down and picked the girl up, holding her close even as tears started to fall. She sank to her knees as the other kids rose and stepped towards her in silence.

"Don't cry, Jane Kelly." Mina said softly as she snuggled close to Jane's armored chest. "You are not alone now. We cannot hear your mind, but that is a good thing. We hurt you." Shame sounded and a noise of it followed her words.

"No, Mina." Jane said softly as she hugged Mina gently. "I hurt myself. And I would do it again. You needed help. I could. I did. End of story."

"No." A boy she did not know spoke from nearby even as hand touched her cheeks, her arms, her waist. "You hurt. Mom chose you because you hurt. We will help you. Rest now."

"What?" Jane asked, then winced as something happened. She was falling. No, she was floating. Her last thought before sleep claimed her was on seeing Syndrome standing in the doorway. His posture was sad.

* * *

 _She has been alone almost her entire life._ Syndrome said softly as Jane was eased onto one of the bunks. She was far too large for it, but it would be more comfortable than the floor. X-Com armor was actually fairly comfortable to sleep in, he knew that from experience. Mina sat beside her, the girl's face grave. _She won't trust. She cannot. She does not share our curse, but she feels so strongly. She won't let any of us in for fear of losing us as she lost her first two families._

 _ **Two?**_ _So brave. So strong. So hurt._ Mina's mental voice was breaking. _We can and will ease her. Let her rest._ _We will remain here until your commanders decide what to do with us._

 _Whatever they decide..._ Syndrome smiled. _You know that Jane in particular and myself will not allow anything it happen to you if we have any choice at all. She will die to protect you if needed._

 _We would rather that not happen._ Mina had apparently been elected spokesperson for the group since no one else was speaking. _We want no conflict with your group or in it. We simply wish to exist._

 _Yeah._ Syndrome smiled a bit wistfully. _I can understand that. But if there is one thing humans can do, it is hate. People like us find it much harder with our ability to see other's thoughts, but we can too._

 _What will happen to the one who hurt Maya, Saun and Julian?_ Mina asked.

 _Short term? I am going to have a long talk with him._ Syndrome replied. The kids met his gaze calmly and he shook his head. _And no, you will_ **not** _listen in. You won't want to. When I do such, I go to places you do not want to see._

 _We know those places, Psi Operative Syndrome._ Mina wasn't arguing. Not really. _We saw them in the minds of the ones who hurt our mother._

 _Does that make what I am going to do or what_ **they** _did right?_ Syndrome asked. Mina shook her head and the others did likewise. _Good. Expect to have a lot of talks about ethics in the near future. People like us make normal humans very nervous even when we do not want to_ **read** _their minds._

 _And after you 'talk'_? Syndrome smiled at the voice he knew. Chris was a dark skinned boy with a shock of white hair.

 _Jane made him and Maya a promise._ The elder psi said calmly. _I see no reason to deny her the ability to keep her word to him and to Maya._

 _She is scary._ A very young sounding voice spoke and Syndrome turned to see a tiny form, the boy looked barely out of infancy but his mental voice was strong.

 _That she is._ Syndrome agreed. _But with her? That is a good thing. Most of the time._ He qualified with a frown. _My other comrade Hollywood was saved by Slither's actions. She feels a debt. She wishes to help as she can. She too is not a psi and she has no connection to your mother. Will you allow her to help?_

 _Can we stop her?_ Chris asked.

"Hollywood?" Syndrome called and the battered sniper appeared at the doorway. "Shogun is asleep. She needed it. Pushed herself too hard and the neural trauma was intense even with my buffering."

"That is our Shogun." Hollywood said with a groan. "No sense in her head at all. Hello." She tried a smile, but it came out tired and wan.

"You are hurt." Chris stared from her to Syndrome who remained silent. "Physically hurt."

"I was hit in the fight." Hollywood said sadly. "I was down. Slither got between me and the one shooting at me. She took shots meant for me. She wasn't human, but she acted it. We don't know if she is gone or not. She is not human. But I don't care. Not anymore."

"They asked if they can stop you." Syndrome's tone was gentle now. She glared at him and he nodded to the kids. Her gaze moderated a little.

"I want to help if I can." Hollywood said after a moment. "I don't like owing people things and I owe Slither. But I am not a psi and I have no connection to your mother. All you have to do is say 'No' or 'Leave' and I will." She stiffened as Chris walked to her.

"My name is Chris." The boy said politely. "Since arriving here, I have been training as a med tech. Please, come in, sit down. Let us help _each other_." He took Hollywood's hand and Syndrome smirked as her face turned from worried to embarrassed as he led her into the midst of the not-quite-children.

 _What happens in the dorm, stays in the dorm._ The psi thought to himself as he turned to the door behind him. He jimmied the lock so it could not be locked from either side. The kids smiled at him as he nodded to them and left.

He turned toward the entrance and found Beta working on the wheeled bot, a furious expression on the normally laid back tech's face. He was muttering profanities, another rare occurrence.

"Beta." Syndrome said softly but the tech jerked back from what he was doing and spun, going for his weapon, only to pause on seeing Syndrome. "They are alive."

"Yeah." Beta snapped the word out and then he was shaking in rage and grief. Syndrome laid a hand on the tech's shoulder, offering him comfort wordlessly. The tech relaxed a little. "Syndrome, I... I know this tech. This... This is the same kind of tech that Lily's dad used to make the SPARK unit prototype."

"X-Com tech." Syndrome said softly. Beta nodded. "Oh shit."

"Yeah." The distraught tech specialist said with a nod. "'Oh shit' is right. These kids... I don't know all of what he did to them, but they seem drugged. I can't find any self destructs. But... Syndrome, their arms and legs were removed and the attachment points replaced with tech connections." Syndrome felt his own mental equilibrium take a hit at that and Beta nodded. "I read somewhere that the old X-Com had been thinking about such things, but could never get them to work."

"X-Com would have used volunteers." Syndrome said softly. Beta nodded and the psi continued. "I _doubt_ these boys volunteered for this."

"Not a chance in hell, Syndrome." Beta said weakly. "He... He neutered them both." Syndrome bowed his head for a moment and the tech let him collect his thoughts. "We cannot let him get away with this."

"Jane promised he would take days to die." Syndrome said softly. "With this? She might make it _longer_." Both the psi and the tech specialist winced in unison. Jane in a rage was nothing anyone sane wanted to be around. "Where is Duke?"

"Duke?" Beta stared around and frowned when he saw no sign of the robot. "He was here. Where did he go?"

"I will find him." Syndrome promised. "See if you can get the boys out of these things safely. I need to check in with Feedback. I will find Duke and then report to Command."

"The other kids?" Beta turned back to his task but kept an ear towards the psi.

"Maya is a mess, but the others are all safe." Syndrome said with a smile. "We did it."

"Not until we get them out of this place of horrors." Beta retorted. He did relax a little more. "And Syndrome? When you talk to that scum? Make it _hurt_."

"Not going to be a problem." Syndrome replied as he turned back towards the hangar.

He was not surprised to find Duke working with Feedback at the chair that Maya's body was strapped to. He was surprised by the state of the EXALT operative. He had half expected Feedback to slit his throat. The medic was kind and gentle most of the time, but piss her off and bad things happened. Jane tended to attract people like that to her team. Go figure.

"Feedback? How bad?" The psi asked as he stepped close. He didn't expect to take her by surprise and did not this time. He wasn't sure why she kept looking at him, but it wasn't anything bad.

"Duke kept me from killing the prisoner." The medic said flatly. Syndrome looked from her to the robot who did not react. "I want to. I really, really want to."

"That bad." Syndrome said softly. Instead of answering, Feedback beckoned him to the box that Maya's chair was connected to. The top of it was open and- Despite years of training and fighting as well as incomparable mental discipline, Syndrome nearly lost his lunch. A small human brain lay inside the box, surrounded by glowing machinery of various kinds. Syndrome fought to keep his voice level. "Maya?"

-I am here.- Maya's tiny voice came from the _box_. -He was going to install me in the ship. He made me take Saun and Julian to a horrid machine and he was going to put _me_ in the ship. I couldn't fight him! I _tried_.-

"Easy, Maya." Syndrome reached for her mind and winced at the static he felt instead of her. "Oh dear. Maya, I promise you, we will figure this out."

-I cannot live like this!- Maya protested. Feedback shook her head and touched a control. The girl's wail cut off.

"All I can do is knock her out." Feedback was on the verge of tears.

"We will figure this out." Syndrome promised her and turned to the EXALT agent. "Feedback. Duke. Check on Beta and secure the door." When the medic looked as if she would protest, he looked at her. "Please. I won't kill him." Duke just moved toward the entrance, but Feedback gave him a savage nod and turned on her heel. "Now..."

Syndrome sank into a meditative pose beside the still EXALT agent and reached out with a slow hand to touch the man's forehead.

"Let's see how much you fight. Part of me really hopes it is a lot." The man jerked under Syndrome's hand, his eyes flying open and his mouth parting in a scream that he would not be allowed to voice. Syndrome, by contrast, was utterly devoid of emotion. "There will be no untruths here. My name is James Morgan. My rank is Mystic and I serve X-Com as a psi operative and occasionally as a psychic interrogator. Your organization never faced anything like me. You are going to tell me _everything_ you know and you will _beg_ Jane to kill you for _however_ long it takes her when I am done with you. Such a fate is far more merciful than the one _I_ want to give you. Let me show you..."

He focused his mind into a dark pathways, driving his prisoner's mind nearly to the point of madness. But not quite.

He wasn't that _kind_.


	15. Chapter 15

**Alternatives**

Syndrome was _really_ tired. Fatigue was nothing new. There were times that the psi thought he had lived his entire life tired. His powers allowed him to keep going long past the point where a male human of comparable physical training would pass out, but there were limits and he was reaching them. He would rest. Soon. Even now, Feedback was eyeing him in a way that he knew meant she would nag him as soon as he finished this.

"Sir." The psi said as the com system came alive. Central stood with the Commander on the screen and it was impossible to tell where they were. "We have secured the area as well as the prototype ship. It seems somewhat functional. One Advent force located and destroyed on the way."

"The kids?" Central asked. Syndrome met the agent's eyes and Central stared at him, dismayed by whatever he saw in the psi's expression. "How bad?"

"Most of them are okay." Syndrome said softly. "Three of them are hurt. An EXALT medic was the only survivor of the alien attack here. He was here, alone, for nineteen years. When the kids and their guardians came, he was contained, but while he was, he devised a plan to use them to rebuild his organization that he implemented when he got free." He felt a hand on his shoulder, Feedback offering comfort the only way she could and he nodded to her. "He used a little girl named Maya in an experiment and when he had suborned her will, he used her to move two boys into a prototype robotic construction facility based on X-Com tech. Do you know of something called a Mech Trooper?" A gasp came from the com and Lily came into view, her face ashen.

"Dear god, tell me he didn't turn them into Mechs!" Lily said with a hand over her mouth.

"One is what Beta calls a mech. The other, seems to have been melded with a heavy wheeled vehicle of some kind that Beta and Duke think is based off something called a S.H.I.V.." Syndrome felt his control fraying and Feedback's hand tightened. He took that pain and used it to reestablish his control. "It has been bad. I really need a drink, sirs."

"The girl?" Central asked, his face like stone.

"Feedback?" Syndrome wasn't pleading, but he hoped dearly she would take over for a bit, let him recover his equilibrium.

"Initially, it was thought that the EXALT agent had removed the girl's brain and placed it in some kind of life support box." The medic said flatly. Lily hissed in horror again but Feedback shook her head. "On further examination, that is _not_ the case." Everyone relaxed a little. "The girl's brain is where it was, exposed by the removal of her skull. He apparently created or copied brain tissue and moved her _mind_ into it somehow. We have no idea _how_. She is awake and aware, but she not handling it well."

"Who _would_?" The Commander demanded. Syndrome patted Feedback's hand and spoke again.

"I did a preliminary interrogation." Syndrome said quietly. The others all focused on him and he nodded. "The Agent's last name is unknown. If he remembers it at all, it is buried deep under a great deal of programming. EXALT Agent Donald was the medical officer here. When the aliens attacked, he bolted for the hangar, blowing sections of the base up behind him when it was clear that the troops here could not hold off the assault. He was knocked unconscious by falling debris and found himself alive, alone and trapped. He has been here since then and is not very sane as a result. He is not a pilot and intended to turn the girl into a control system for the Avenger ship here." Central and the Commander shared a glance. "As far as he knew, the Advent and aliens knew nothing of the ship or they would have investigated further, but if so, that begs the question as to _how_ they knew of this ship in EXALT hands."

"Yes." Central mused. "Shogun's report on the mental training room is fairly specific. A Raven and that. But if it never left or attacked the aliens, then how could they _know_?"

"Did it fly straight there from wherever it was stolen?" Lily asked.

"I don't think so." Syndrome said. "Medic Donald didn't know such things. They compartmentalized their information then as much as we do now."

"I wonder if the ship arrived during the assault or just prior to it." Central mused. "It could have been seen landing, and EXALT never wasted any time remarking anything they stole from us." He and the Commander shared a glance. "We have a base ready for the kids."

"That was quick, sir." Syndrome said with gratitude.

"It is in the middle of nowhere in the Gobi desert." Central smiled a bit tightly. "It was cheap."

"In other words, no one knows what is going there." Central nodded at Syndrome's words. That made sense. New psis and new tech would be a pretty powerful incentive for just about anyone to try a snatch on some of it. All three of the command crew of the new Avenger nodded. "Good. I will send a report detailing everything as soon as I get off the com, sirs."

"How is Shogun?" Central's tone might not have been totally professional, but who could blame him? She had been with him since the beginning.

"Exhausted and she took some neural trauma trying to calm the kids." Syndrome didn't pull any punches. "I am letting her sleep."

"Rest of the team?" Central asked.

"Hollywood took some hits, but she is mobile." Feedback replied as the medical person in the team. "The rest of us are 100%, sir."

"I would say Syndrome is about 60%." Lily had a worried look on her face. Syndrome just looked at her and she shook her head. "You look like hell."

"Yeah." Syndrome admitted. "Mucking about in that mass of garbage's mind was not fun at _all_."

"Advent is moving." Central said after a moment. "We are not sure why, but the pod you engaged seems to have been scouting for a much larger force. About a battalion in size."

"A _battalion_? The town above is vulnerable." Syndrome felt an icy touch of fear thinking about the many civilians who had thought themselves safe finally. From her clenched hand, Feedback felt the same.

"We are evacuating the town and have deployed two teams into the area. They are using hit and run tactics, the ADVENT forces are too large to fight in our normal manner." Central replied. "This may be an attempt to draw us into a fight on their terms."

"If so, we may have no choice but to give them one or cut our losses." Syndrome said quietly. "Maya, Saun and Julian cannot be moved and we don't know if the ship will fly. That said, getting it out will be... interesting. EXALT apparently planned to blow a crater for it to fly out of. But I do not think setting off a _nuke_ under the town is a good option. If it even works after all this time."

"A _nuke?_ " Central demanded. Syndrome nodded. "Where the hell did EXALT get _that_? Never mind." He sighed as Syndrome shrugged. "Almost certainly stolen, lots of weapons of all kinds went missing in the chaos of the invasion. We just had a call from a naval battle group that has been in hiding for twenty years on a set of small islands in the South Pacific. Several different countries' ships. Hell of a story there. Send us a data dump with all of the information you have, we will get back to you."

"What about Reverb?" Feedback asked.

"He sleeps a lot." Central had a look of distaste on his face. "Mind you, if it keeps us from _executing_ him, I am willing to give it a try, but... That bothers me."

"He -or she- is helping repair the psi lab." Lily said with a smile that became a frown. "I like her and I know that is not a good thing."

"We are discussing that and the kids' futures." Central said quietly. Syndrome started. What had been in the agent's expression before it faded? Worry? Distaste? Disgust?

"She was trying to save her kids." Syndrome said with a small frown. "Has she?" He did _not_ like the look that Central and the commander shared. "Sir?" He pressed.

"We will get back to you. Get some rest." With that, Central cut the connection, leaving Syndrome to stare at a blank screen.

"Oh shit." Syndrome swallowed hard.

"Syndrome?" Feedback asked, worried. "Does that mean what I think? Will he throw Maya and the boys away to save the others?" She made a face. "Maya would welcome death, I think. The boys? I don't know."

"I don't know what HQ is doing." Syndrome admitted. "We do not have all the information, so no use running off doing dumb things without all the information. I need to rest. Meditate. Can you... keep an eye on things? Prisoner won't be moving for a while, I don't _care_ what genetic tweaks he has, he is _not_ going to be moving."

He smiled evilly at the still EXALT Medic. The man was very much the worse for wear after Syndrome's brutal violation of his mind. He lay, shaking slightly in sleep, chained to a landing strut of the Avenger.

"He deserved that and more." Feedback said sourly. "But yes. Get some rest. There are bunks in the Avenger if you don't want to go far."

"Right." Syndrome staggered a little and Feedback was there. He looked at her and she shook her head.

"Sleep. Now." The medic commanded as she released the psi.

-By your command.- Syndrome monotoned with a smile as Feedback groaned. He did manage nod, but then strode up the ramp into the ship. As Feedback had said, the ship had bunks. They did not look very comfortable, but he was beyond caring.

* * *

Dorm

Jane woke, aware of muted sobbing. She did not move, did not react. She was surrounded by warm bodies, all of which seemed far too small to be her teammates. The sobbing was not coming from anywhere around her, it was coming from _inside_ her. She felt distant from her emotions, calm and in control. But the crying was calling to her. She took a deep breath and followed it.

It was very odd. She had done this before, but only with her passenger's guidance. She had always been a quick study. This time, she could feel her body as she slipped through it, seeking the crying that was getting louder. It came as no surprise at all when she landed on her feet in a very familiar room. The desk/chairs were exactly where they had been. The posters on the walls were exactly as they had been. What was different was the silver skinned girl who sat in front of the teacher's desk, hugging herself and crying. Every part of the girl was silver, mechanical looking. But Jane knew her anyway.

"Maya." Jane breathed and the girl jerked, staring up at her with silver eyes that went huge on seeing Jane.

"What?" The girl stammered. "No! Jane Kelly? You cannot be here! You are _hurt_!"

"So are you." Jane said softly as she sat by the stiff form. She reached out a hand, but Maya jerked back. "Maya. Oh, Maya. Let me help."

"You can't." Maya said weakly. "He messed me up, tore my mind out and put it in some kind of copy of my brain. I could hear a little... They are worried about me. I... I can't feel myself anymore. I can't hear the others. I cannot feel them. I am all alone."

"Maya. You are _not_ alone." Jane said quietly, reaching out and taking the girl's right hand in her left. Maya tried to pull free, but Jane wouldn't let her. "Can you feel _this_?"

Maya stared down at her hand and then at Jane. Her resistance crumbled and she was sobbing even as Jane pulled her close. The X-Com operative smiled a little forlornly as she held the crying girl, murmuring nonsense words in a soothing voice as she stroked the girl's hair. It looked mechanical, but it felt like hair.

"I killed Saun and Julian." Maya said after a moment. "They trusted me and I _killed_ them."

"Are they dead?" Jane asked. Maya turned an irate look at her but Jane was having none of it. "Maya, are they dead?"

"Their _bodies_ are alive." Maya bit out. "But I cannot feel their minds."

"You just said you cannot feel anything." Jane gave the girl a squeeze. "You were not in control of yourself, Maya. I know the feeling." Maya stared at her but Jane's gaze was far away. "On my fourth mission, I was hit by Sectoid mind control. I turned my shotgun on a comrade. Killed him. No one blamed me, except _me_. I wasn't in control, Maya. It took me some time to accept that. You were not in control of yourself."

"You cannot _know_ that." Maya snapped, but Jane just held her despite her feeble struggles.

"Maya, I know _you_." Jane said softly. "You are part of me and I am part of you. I am sorry it took so long to get to you." Jane fought tears now, but held Maya as the girl stiffened.

"It wasn't _your_ fault!" Maya protested. " _He_ did it." Jane smiled at her and Maya's eyes went huge as what she had just said sank in. She smiled back, her smile a bit wan, but there. " _He_ did it."

" _He_ did it." Jane brushed Maya's hair again. "You were controlled just as I was by that damn Sectoid. This will hurt you for a long, long time. _I_ still hurt from what I did. I could see it happening, but I was a prisoner in my own body. I screamed and fought and my shotgun still came up, aimed and fired." Maya bowed her head as Jane let tears come. "His name was Steven. He was new and he was brave. He had no chance against me at point blank range. My hands and weapon killed him. I was not in control, but I feel as if I was to this day."

"Yes, you do know. I am sorry." Maya snuggled closer to Jane. "I feel so weird and I..." Jane just hugged her and Maya returned it.

"I know." Jane sighed as she looked Maya over. "Do you know why the nutcase was doing this? Did he ever say?"

"He babbled a lot." Maya frowned in thought. "It didn't make a lot of sense to me. Until he put in the chair and my mind went fuzzy. Then it all made sense, but... it doesn't." She complained.

"He brainwashed you." Jane gave Maya another squeeze and the girl relaxed form the tension she had been building. "EXALT had that kind of thing down to an evil art from what I understand, but there are limits to it. He couldn't get at the deepest recesses of your mind, so he subverted the upper layers. I will kill him." Jane promised.

"I love you, Jane Kelly." Maya said sadly. Jane stiffened and Maya continued. "I know you fear loss again. I don't know why, but I can feel your fear and the pain that causes it. I do not want to add to it, but I had to say that."

"That is what I get for having my mind linked to a not-a-kid kid." Jane made a face, but she wasn't angry. Not here. Not now. Not with Maya. She tweaked Maya's nose and the girl chuckled wetly.

"You may have to leave me here." Maya said after a moment. Jane stared at her and Maya slumped a bit. "I was incoherent and the medic -Feedback- tried to help. She doesn't understand the tech though. None of it hurt." Maya said quickly when Jane tensed. "She couldn't shut me off without killing me and she won't. Unless there is no choice."

" _Why_ would we have to leave?" Jane demanded. "We have you, the boys, the ship and the EXALT agent. He didn't get any chance to set self destructs and..." She broke off and groaned. "Advent. The force we fought was scouting for something else."

"Someone said a battalion." Maya said quietly. Jane went totally still at that. "I don't know that word, but it is a lot, isn't it?"

"An Advent battalion is usually four companies. It was an attempt by Advent to look more human by copying human military force structure." Jane replied. "A company is made up of three or four platoons."

"And a... 'platoon'?" Maya sounded out the new word and Jane smiled at her.

"A platoon in human armies was two or more sections, Advent has four. Each section is a pod. Pods have three to five Advent depending on the situation." Jane said with a frown of thought. "So... worst case scenario..."

"Five times four times four times four." Maya rattled off. "Three hundred twenty." She said with a smile that Jane shared. Those smiles faltered. "Your squad has how many?"

"Six." Jane replied with a nod as Maya's face fell. The girl was shaking her head now but Jane shook hers. "Numbers alone do not win a battle, Maya."

"I bet they _help_." Maya said weakly. Jane nodded, but hugged Maya again.

"X-Com has been fighting worse odds for more than twenty years, Maya." Jane said with a smile. "We know what we are doing."

"It would be more efficient to leave us." Maya said after a moment. "If we cannot be saved or moved..."

"We don't _know_ that, Maya." Jane heaved a sigh. "I promised you I would help and I will. But you have to give us the chance."

"And if your commanders tell you to grab what you can and run?" Maya asked, her tone hesitant. Jane froze and the girl swallowed hard. "Speaking from a cold perspective, we are lost. The other kids are not."

"We do not _know_ that, Maya." Jane snapped, patience fleeing. "We don't know if any of this can be moved!"

"It can." Maya said softly. "The machine was built into the Avenger. Humans and raw materials come in, fighting machines come out."

"Oh my god." Jane said softly.

"Jane..." Maya jerked and then was crying again. "Your friend Syndrome just went in the ship and lay down. He is going to sleep! It will change him!"

"Stop it!" Jane snapped.

"I am _trying_!" Maya pleaded. "I can't _stop_ it. I can slow it, but not stop it. Jane..."

"Hold on, Maya." Jane said as she rose, hugging Maya's body close.

"Jane. No." Maya's face couldn't pale, but her tone showed she was frightened. "You are hurt."

"And my friend may be _dying_." Jane focused herself as never before and threw her mind out in a massive psychic scream even as Maya screamed in terror and something tore inside Jane. The pain bolstered the scream that she sent through Maya's mind and body.

 _ **-FEEDBACK!-**_


	16. Chapter 16

**The lesser evil**

Feedback was in motion even as her brain caught up with the fact that the voice that had shouted at her had come from the box. But it wasn't Maya's voice!

"Shogun?" Feedback demanded. "Wha-"

-Get Syndrome out of the ship!- Her commander snapped. - _Now!_ That is where EXALT built the machine to make the bots! It will _change_ him!- Feedback was running towards the ramp even as Jane's voice screamed louder. - _Syndrome wake up!_ -

Feedback froze as she saw Syndrome lying on a bunk near one wall of the ship. Several menacing looking mechanical arms were bending towards him and she screamed in rage as she ran towards him, pulling her rifle into firing position. His eyes flickered, but something went hiss at the bunk and he slumped.

"Beta! Duke! Emergency at the ship!" Feedback called and heard acknowledgements that she ignored, taking aim at the arms that were bending toward Syndrome now. She wasn't as good a shot as some of her peers, but the range was short and the targets were moving slowly. She fired and a mechanical scream sounded. Maya!

-Ow! That hurts!- Maya's voice was crying and Feedback recoiled but the girl continued to speak through her tears. -No! Don't stop! Do it! Get him out! I can't stop it. I can _slow_ it but not _stop_ it!-

Feedback hardened her heart and fired her plasma rifle again and again. Each time, Maya screamed in agony as mechanical arms fell still. But the one she had shot first was moving again!

"Damn it! They _repair_!" Feedback snarled and ran to the bunk. Syndrome did not move as she grabbed his arm and yanked him up into a crude carry. He was completely out of it as she pulled him from the bunk only to stop short as the ramp started to retract.

-No! If you are in there when it closes, it will change _you_ too! _Get out!_ \- Maya screamed. -I can't stop the ramp _and_ the machine!- Feedback went still as Jane's voice sounded again. She sounded as if she was in pain.

-I can.- Shogun's voice was ragged and torn, but the ramp stopped, reversed its rise. -Get... him... _out_ \- She screamed loud and long and then was silent.

Feedback wasted no time, as soon as the ramp was close to down, she threw Syndrome out through it and jumped. Beta and Duke were standing over Syndrome's still form as Feedback landed in a perfect roll even as the ramp shut with a clang behind her.

"What the hell?" Beta demanded.

"The _ship_ is the machine that made the bots. Or it is built into the ship. Or something." Feedback rose to her feet, moving to check Syndrome. "Syndrome went to rest and it tried to change him into one of the bots. Scan him." She pleaded even as she did the same. She relaxed as she realized that he was asleep, but not hurt. She looked at Beta who nodded.

"No alterations I can detect." Beta slumped in relief. "If the ramp had closed,... it would have gotten you too?" Feedback nodded, too relieved to speak. "Too fricking close."

"We will need to figure out what happened and why." Feedback said with a wince as something hurt. She ignored that. Syndrome was deeply unconscious, but unhurt. She relaxed and then turned to where Maya still sat in the chair. "Maya?"

-I am sorry.- Maya's voice from the box held horror and despair. -I can't find her now. She screamed and I cannot find her. Oh my god! What have I _done_?-

"Maya! Calm down." Feedback moved to the girl in the chair, her scanners sweeping. "Was that Shogun? What did she _do_?" Beta jerked, staring at her but Feedback only had eyes for Maya.

-She was hurt.- Maya said weakly. -I knew she was hurt. Now she is hurt _worse!_ I did not want to wake her and now she is gone! Please! Help her!- She pleaded.

"Duke, watch the ship." Feedback commanded. "You are authorized weapons free if anything tries to leave it or any of it powers up. Try to disable if you can, but if not? _Slag it_. This thing is monstrous." Beta looked to protest, but Feedback cut him off. "The interior is where the boys were altered, Beta. I suggested the bunks to Syndrome."

"You couldn't have known." Beta offered, his face pale.

"No." Feedback agreed as she moved back to Syndrome and shifted him a little out of the way. "But that doesn't lessen the guilt. I heard Shogun's voice screaming. She sounded _bad_ , Beta. She did something, I don't know what, to keep the hatch from sealing me in."

"We need to check then." Beta agreed. "I will check the ship. You check on Shogun?"

" _Carefully_." Feedback cautioned. "Syndrome is out for a while. It gassed him with something but I don't scan any toxins. I do not want to have to pull _you_ out." She turned back to Maya as Beta nodded savagely. "Maya? Can you her me?"

-Of course I can. I am not _deaf_.- The girl complained. Feedback had to smile at that, hurt or no, the girl was a character. -Just stuck in some kind of odd machine thing.-

"If you need anything, Beta is our resident tech wiz." Feedback said quietly. "And Duke is the robot. If you need me, tell one of them to call me. I will go check on Shogun."

-'Shogun' is what you call Jane?- Maya asked. Feedback nodded and then kicked herself, the girl's eyes were closed!

"Yes." Feedback smiled at the sound of understanding that came from the box. "We will do what we can, Maya. I promise." With that, she ran from the hangar and towards the dorm. It was a short run.

"Feedback!" The medic had never heard such a tone of despair from the team sniper. Hollywood had Shogun's limp body cradled in her arms. "I was just going to call. She screamed and convulsed. Now she is still. I kept her from rolling off the bed, but I didn't want to move her any more. She has a pulse, but..."

"Put her down and let me see." Feedback commanded even as the crowd of kids around Hollywood and Shogun parted. She had her scanner out as she moved to the bunk, barely noticing Hollywood moving out of the way. Hollywood was murmuring to herself even as the kids withdrew a bit more. Feedback brought the team sniper up to speed while the medic focused on her work. "Syndrome went to sleep in the ship. Apparently it was where EXALT built..." She broke off, aware of the scrutiny from all around her.

"Where they built the machine that was used on Saun and Julian. Maya cannot apparently hear us, but _we_ can hear _her_." A small wiry boy with dark skin nodded to her from the side. His face was professionally blank. "They are alive."

"Yeah." Feedback studied her scanner, perplexed. The readings did not make a lot of sense to her. Jane was alive, that wasn't in question and was a huge relief but her brain wasn't acting right either. "What did she do?"

"Maya was crying." The boy said softly, his face full of despair. "We couldn't get through to her. Jane Kelly used the odd connection she and mom forged to get through. We had hoped that would allow Maya to hear us as well, but she cannot." Feedback stiffened. "Yes, we knew when she woke and that she was going to try and help Maya. We did not stop her. We felt letting her try to help Maya would be the lesser of two evils."

Feedback looked at Hollywood who shook her head slowly. "Feedback, they mean well. They helped Shogun. She was resting. Then she woke. I didn't know she was awake until she went still. The kids told me she was trying to help Maya."

"She was _hurt_." Feedback growled at the sniper, keeping her eyes on Hollywood who nodded. "She needed _rest_. Not to-" She broke off as a small girl walked up and laid her hand on the medic's arm.

"Please do not be angry." The girl pleaded. "Yes, we should have warned you or Miss Hollywood when Jane Kelly woke. But she was comfortable." Feedback had to snort at the 'Miss' comment but Hollywood did not react. "She should not have been able to do what she did. The psi blocker you gave her should have prevented it. And then... your other friend would have been changed by the machine. I do not think she would have liked that. We didn't know, but we prayed she could help Mata."

"No. No, she wouldn't." Feedback heaved a sigh and relaxed, looking at the girl. She looked a lot like Maya. "You are Maya's sister?"

"My name is Mina." The girl replied with a small nod. "We did not know anything was wrong until she screamed. We could not sense her. We were trying to help her. There is so much pain in her, both physical and emotional."

"Yeah." Feedback sat on the bunk beside Jane and shook her head. "I cannot find anything physically _wrong_ with her. Syndrome might be able to but he is asleep and frankly? He needs it."

"I have some training as a med-tech and we all have powers of the mind." The dark skinned boy offered. "But none of us are trained like your psi friend."

"Very few are." Feedback grunted as she perused the data she had. "And that is a _good_ thing. He is a good man, but he scares people."

"Will we?" Mina asked softly. Feedback jerked upright and looked at her. Then she looked at the other kids scattered around her. Feedback looked at Hollywood and then slumped.

"I don't know, Mina." Feedback admitted. "Humans can be very odd. Selfless and noble or savage and violent, it all depends on how they perceive things. We..." She indicated Hollywood who nodded when the kids looked at her. "...do not see you as things or monsters. The way you were raised does not make you a monster. At least to me." She qualified, eyeing Hollywood.

"I had some reservations before coming here." Feedback's teammate said quietly. "They are still there, but far from the main part of my mind. I don't know where we can put you. Our home is small."

"Central and the Commander are working on that." Feedback reassured the other and Hollywood relaxed a little. "They say they have found an old air base that can be easily refurbished."

"Air base?" A girl who looked about ten said with wide eyes. "Then we can _fly_ like Sam is? He is having _fun!_ " A tinge of jealousy sounded in her voice, but it vanished as Feedback looked at her.

"Coral..." Chris groaned. " _Now_ is _not_ the time."

"None of us know what the future holds." Feedback heaved a sigh. "For now, we need to figure how to get you out of here and Shogun needs help. Maya too. Is there a lab or medical bay in this facility?"

"No." Chris replied. "We explored it carefully when mom and Slither were here." Sadness peered through his eyes, but he controlled it. "These parts are all that are functional. The corridor, the dorm and it's attached facilities and the hangar. We slept a lot."

"That is no way to live." Hollywood said flatly. "Feedback, did the commander say anything about _how_ we were going to get out?" The medic shook her head and the sniper sighed. "Typical. Leaving it up to us grunts."

"I think there is more going on than we know." Feedback frowned. "For now..." She patted Mina's shoulder. "I will see what I can do for Shogun and you guys... Do _you_ need anything?" They all looked from her to Hollywood who nodded. One of them -a pale skinned and haired boy- stepped forward and Feedback's eyes bulged as she saw the marks of burns on his hands. "What _happened_?" She demanded as she waved him close.

"I tried to get out once the door locked." The boy said as she reached for his hands with one hand and her scanner was in the other. "The ducts get hot."

"I will say." Feedback said with a frown as she examined the burns on his hands. Red with blisters, second degree burns. Not as bad as they _could_ be, but obviously painful. "You are lucky to be alive." She commented as she pulled her medikit out, dialed its dosage down to match his body size and sprayed his hands with nanite mist. He smiled and relaxed as the pain ebbed and died. "That isn't a miracle cure. It will heal, but not as fast as if I gave you the full dose which I am loath to do. Not only do I have a very small supply of them, I don't know your body's reactions to the nanites. Even a full dose wouldn't cure completely." She said as she returned her medikit to her belt. "You will need those bandaged and I don't carry bandages." She frowned.

"We can help him." Chris said as he stepped forward. He had what looked like torn sheets in his hands, Feedback eyed them and Chris shrugged. "Clean sheets we have. EXALT apparently never wanted to do laundry and this was apparently a dorm for them at one time. Any cloth put into the laundry chute comes out of another chute sterilized."

"Can you do it?" The medic asked and Chris nodded. "Go on. He is your... brother?" She asked. Chris and the other boy nodded. "This is going to take some getting used to."

"What will happen to us?" Mina asked when Chris was working. "I mean, you said you don't know. But can't you guess?" Her lip was trembling and Feedback sighed and sat down, indicating her lap. The girl swarmed into her, hugging the armored medic tight. Hollywood nodded and moved to a group of others. She was sitting with them, but listening as only the team sniper could.

"I _could_ guess." Feedback replied. "But what if I guess _wrong_? You and your siblings are safe for now. We will see that can be done for Maya, Saun and Julian."

She winced slightly at that name, but wasn't going to explain why she had a problem with it. That was Lily's secret to share, not hers. Everyone who had gone with Lily to that abandoned Advent facility agreed that it wasn't any of their business. Unless the AI got loose, in which case, it _would_ be. But knowing Lily, it _wasn't_ going to happen. The engineer _defined_ paranoid about her tech with good reason. It was really one of the few advantages that X-Com had over Advent and their alien masters.

"I am scared." Mina said weakly. "Mom and Slither are both gone and we are still stuck here."

"Yeah." Feedback stroked the girl's hair and Mina calmed. "Your situation has improved a little, but I know this is stressful. And... I need to ask something of you." Mina looked up at Feedback, her eyes scared and the medic shook her head. "Nothing bad, but maybe scary."

"What?" Mina swallowed hard. "I am not brave like my sister, Sam or Chris." Chris met Feedback's eyes over Mina's back and rolled his.

"Bravery can take many forms, Mina." Feedback had a soft smile on her face. "But Maya cannot hear you mentally. You can hear _her_ , but _she_ cannot hear _you_. She is a mess. The EXALT did something to her we don't know how to fix yet. We are working on it, but she is all alone in her mind now." Mina's eyes went huge and then she nodded slowly. "Will you come with me to talk to your sister? I think she would like to hear your physical voice even if she cannot hear you mind."

"I... I didn't want to ask." Mina admitted.

"She is your sister.' Feedback said quietly. "Of course you worry about her."

"Do you have a sister?" Mina asked and froze as Feedback did. "Oh, No... I didn't mean..."

"I did, Mina." Feedback said softly. "Her name was Hanna. She um... She died." Hollywood jerked where she sat and stared at Feedback. The medic hadn't ever shared that she had kin, but then again, lots of X-Com personnel didn't talk about their pasts.

"I am sorry." Mina hugged Feedback tight.

"I didn't _like_ her, Mina." Feedback heaved a sigh. "But she was my sister. She could infuriate me faster than anyone else on Earth and then she was gone. It wasn't even a battle, she was caught in a airliner that was shot down by a UFO. Just one of millions who died that way."

"And you still miss her." Mina said softly. Feedback nodded. "I am sorry."

"You didn't do it, Mina." Feedback threw off the dark clouds that had surrounded her and smiled at the girl. "What say we go talk to your sister? You can give the rest a status report. Hollywood? We need to keep an eye on Shogun, but... I don't think anything I can do will help."

Hollywood nodded silently as Feedback stood up, letting Mina slide off her lap and taking the girl's hand in her own. The walk back was quick. To Feedback's relief, Beta was still outside, scanning the cables that connected Maya's body to the box and then to the ship. The ramp was down again, but _nobody_ was going to enter until the team could make it safe.

"Maya!" Mina exclaimed and ran to the chair that held her sister's body. "Can you hear me?"

-Mina!- The chair bound girl exclaimed. Mina jumped at the voice from the box, but relaxed when Feedback patted her arm. -Oh, Mina! I thought I lost you _all_! I lost Jane Kelly too!- Tears started to fall even as Mina took hold of her sister's hand. -I don't know what to do! She was with me and now she _isn't!_ -

Mina looked from her sister to Feedback to Beta to Duke who still stood with his Elerium-Phase Cannon at the ready and back at her sister. When she spoke, Mina sounded far, far older than she looked.

"Then we better _find_ her."


	17. Chapter 17

**Personality conflicts**

Jane was instantly aware of where she was. But it wasn't possible. Even before she cracked her eyes, she knew it wasn't possible. The room was the same as she remembered. Four white walls with a white ceiling. The surface she lay on gave underneath her, but it wasn't for comfort. Oh no. Not here.

"Subject 318 has regained consciousness." She did not look at the unemotional voice. She didn't need to see the man to know he was a human wearing the uniform of Advent. And not a collaborator, no. He was high ranking, a specialist. "What is your name?"

As she had the first time she had run through this, Jane ignored the question. This time, it was not real. This was a memory. _Her_ memory of when she had woken after being captured by Advent. Her glance around the room ignored the man, catching two different security monitors set into different corners of the ceiling and the heavy door that locked her in this horror. Even then, she hadn't been stupid enough to fight physically. There was no way for her to, strapped down as she was and all it would do was tire her out. Which was what they wanted.

The question now was... who? This was her past. She knew it was her past. A memory she dearly wished to forget but could not. But... it wasn't quite right. The ceiling was patchy, where the Advent one had been spotless in the bright white light. She focused on it and screamed as pain slammed through her. She lay gasping as the pain receded.

"You will break." The unemotional voice said. "They all do in the end. You will serve. They all do in the end."

This wasn't right. Advent had never _tortured_ her. They hadn't _had_ to. Psychological manipulation, sleep deprivation and the careful administration of drugs had been wearing her down. At that point, Advent had nothing but time. It had been a complete fluke that she had been rescued at all. The team that had rescued her had been looking for a VIP in the lab, and found Jane as well. Extracting _both_ had been interesting from what she had gleaned, but they had managed and Jane had nothing but gratitude for the team that had rescued her. This wasn't then. This _wasn't_ the Advent cell. So logically, this wasn't _real_. And if _that_ was the case...

"Your team. How many? What skills and armaments?" The unemotional voice spoke and Jane frowned. That wasn't on script either. Whoever was doing this was using her memories, but wasn't Advent. She finally turned to the voice and was not surprised to see a the man standing there in Advent uniform morph until he was garbed as the EXALT agent had been.

"EXALT." Jane mused softly and the man did not react. If he even _was_ a man. "Nice _try_." She focused her mind as she had been taught by psyche specialists and with a savage cry, tore the memory of her Advent cell to shreds. Her mind was her own now. In moments she stood on a grey plain with the EXALT agent, unbound and clad in X-Com armor. Her weapons were as firm in her mind as her own self. Her Storm Cannon appeared in her hands, a weight at her back heralded the appearance of her blade and her belt held the usual tools of her trade. "I don't like your game. Shall we play _mine_?"

"You will submit." The other did not seem fazed at all by Jane's exit of the simulation or her sudden armed status. That was either extreme confidence or extreme stupidity. At least in humans. Jane looked at him. _Was_ he human?

"No." Jane replied in a matching tone with as little emotion as she could manage.

She pulled something out of her left pants cargo pocket. The other wouldn't have any idea at all what the baseball cap meant. Why it was so important to her. Why she used it as her mental focus. Advent had never had a clue either, they had just assumed it was an article of clothing. Oh, they were very good at manipulating minds, but they had assumed she was fixated on the past when she was focused on the future. That said, she _never_ wanted to forget who and what she was. Where she had come from. They would have broken her eventually and discovered why Jane never went _anywhere_ without that cap. But even then, Advent wouldn't have cared that the cap had been her birth mother's. That it was all she had left from her first family. If they had figure out why she fixated on it, then they might have broken her faster, but they hadn't. They had been interrupted by an X-Com team. Jane looked down at the cap and then, with a defiant grin, slid her powered visor down around her neck and slipped the baseball cap over her head before bringing the visor back up.

The cap was her focus. Her need to keep what had happened to her families from happening again to anyone else. To stand against any who would threaten the beautiful blue ball she had been born on. She took a deep breath, savoring the smell of perfume that was all in her mind. The real cap had no trace left of her mom. Only in her mind, only with the cap on did she feel at peace. It never lasted, but she was happy with the fragments that she knew were real instead of some soft Advent or Exalt lie. It had taken two shrinks and three destroyed offices for X-Com to let her do things her way. She knew what she was doing.

"You cannot escape or resist." The other sounded calm and in control despite what Jane had just done.

"No?" Jane put as much snide in her tone as possible. "Why don't we see how well having me stuck here with you works out for you?"

With _that_ , she opened fire.

* * *

The real world

"I don't understand." Mina was sitting on the chair next to Maya whose body didn't move even when she touched it. "You had her with you. We could feel her and you. But now? She is gone. I can feel _you_ , Maya, barely. But not her." Maya's voice from the box gave a sob and Feedback spoke up.

"Okay, I don't know much psi stuff except where it pertains to medical matters." The medic said with a frown. "But if Mina and the others _could_ hear her, then she was connected psionically. She was with you, Maya and you took her with you when you tried to stop the machine from changing Syndrome."

-Yeah.- Maya said weakly. -She came to me in the training room, Mina. Did you take her there?"

"No." Mina frowned as well. "Without Mom, she shouldn't have been able to get there."

"Shogun has _never_ been one for following anyone's rules but her _own_." Feedback smiled in memory. "She drives the brass as crazy as Syndrome does but she gets results."

-She is so hurt.- Maya's mechanical voice was small. -So angry and so hurt. I am amazed she can function.-

"Never underestimate the power of rage." Feedback said softly. "She is only human, but she does things that others cannot because she has to. We worry about her, the medical staff do but we needed her."

-Fighting wars is never pretty according to what I learned.- Maya said softly. -Fighting something like Advent? I cannot imagine what you have had to do.- Feedback shrugged and Maya heaved a sigh. -Anyway, Jane Kelly was with me, Mina. We...transferred somewhere else. I could feel the machine running."

"'Feel'?" Feedback queried. "What do you mean? In your mind or like it was your body?"

-I...- Maya paused and then spoke slowly and carefully. -I am not sure. It felt both right and wrong. I think...- She broke off. -Miss Feedback, is it possible to connect someone directly to a computer?-

"Just Feedback, Maya." The medic said with a snort. "I try to avoid formality. But to answer your question, yes. It is. Saun and Julian were connected directly." Maya gave another sob and Mina stroked her hand. "But... Maya, did you put them to sleep when we arrived?"

-Yes.- Maya sounded sick now. -There are really only two settings that I found. Hostile and asleep.- Feedback grimaced and Mina shared it. -I don't know if I can communicate with them directly. Neither is awake now and I don't want to take the chance on them being hostile.-

"Thank you for that." Feedback grinned. "So, it has to be something to do with how you are connected. You are connected to the ship. What were you supposed to do?"

-I was to be the central control system.- Maya said flatly. -He was quite clear that once he was sure I was inside and under his control, he would destroy my body and bring the others in one or two at a time for me to change into machines.-

"Were you to fly it?" Feedback asked. Maya was silent for a moment and Feedback did not press her.

-No.- Maya sounded confused now. -That makes no sense. If I wasn't to be the flight control, who _was_?-

"I don't know.' Feedback sighed and stretched a little. "Syndrome interrogated the agent, so he may know but I don't want to wake him. He really needed the rest."

-Okay...- Maya was thinking out loud now. -If _I_ wasn't to fly it, then one of the others was. I am not sure _why_ I couldn't fly it. I studied the mechanics of flight the same as the rest of us.-

"Hold on a sec." Feedback said with a look of concentration. "Beta? Have you traced the cables from the box?" The tech appeared form the other side of the ship where he had been working and nodded. 'Where do they go?"

"The machine is built into the forward bulkhead of the troop compartment." Beta scowled, angry with EXALT for all they had done. "It is compact, and looks like alien tech mixed with human."

"Too bad we cannot let Lily near it. But we cannot lose her." Feedback shivered and Beta matched it. "So the flight systems, are they connected at all?" Beta shook his head. "I see."

-I don't.- Maya complained and Mina stroked her hand again.

"She was with you until she fought to keep the ramp from closing." Feedback said quietly. "Then she wasn't. That means she is probably in the ship somewhere." She turned to look at the ship, Mina and Beta did the same. "My bet is that she was pulled into another system. The flight system maybe."

-But...- Maya trailed off as she thought about that. -Okay. I can see that. How would we get her out?-

"I don't know." Feedback admitted. "Beta? Have you scanned the flight systems?"

"Not really." The tech admitted. "I figured it was like most X-Com ships of the era and flown by an agent. I never could figure out how the EXALT scum planned to get all the kids in there. But if he was going to yank their minds out and store them electronically..." He grimaced when Feedback did.

"Data is much easier to carry than bodies.- Maya said quietly. -I am trying to connect...-

" _No!_ " Feedback, Beta and Mina all exclaimed and the medic continued.

'Maya! _Stop!_ " Feedback was moving even as Mina started to cry. "You don't know if it is trapped or not. I bet it is! I bet Shogun tripped a trap."

-We need to find her!- Maya protested.

"And if we lose _you_ in the process?" Feedback demanded. "That then? You are free for the moment, let's keep it that way. She would want that. And frankly? Shogun can take care of _herself_. She is tougher than any _three_ of us." She and Beta shared a grim smile. Nothing but the truth there.

-I could feel her strength and compassion as soon as she touched me.- Maya said weakly. -I want to help her. I feel so helpless not being able to help her.-

"I know."Feedback relented a bit. "Thing is, if she is in the computer systems, I have no idea how to get her out." She eyes Beta who shrugged.

"Syndrome might." The tech said quietly and hurried to continue even as Feedback glared at him. "No. I am not suggesting waking him up. He needed it bad."

"Yeah." Feedback turned to where Syndrome slept by one landing strut of the ship, as far from the comatose EXALT prisoner as they could make him. "So... Shogun was in the systems and kept the ramp from sealing us in... Beta, we need some scans of the flight control systems. Can you get your Gremlin in?"

"Puh-lease." The tech affected hurt pride. "Who are you talking to?"

"Beta." Feedback said softly. "There is a good chance that anything going in there will be lost."

"I know." Beta turned to scrutinize his Gremlin where it hovered. It made some noises and he slumped a bit. "Dang AIs are too brave for their own good sometimes."

"Um..." Mina's soft word had both of them turning but she wasn't looking at them. " _Where_ would the flight control system be?" Feedback's eyes narrowed as she realized that Mina was eying the ship! She turned and her eyes went huge as she saw red lights flashing through the cockpit windows.

"There." Beta had turned as well and his jaw dropped. "Feedback? You don't _think_..."

"I think as Americans say, something may have bit off more than it can chew." Feedback was shaking her head with a rueful smile as the flashing lights continued. "That said, she can probably use some backup. Beta, the scans." The tech gave a sharp nod and started fiddling with his controls. The Gremlin beside him darted up and around, it's scanner whirring. "Maya? Mina? We will likely need your help."

-Anything I can do.- Maya promised and Mina nodded.

"Thing is, none of us have a clue what EXALT planned here." Feedback said quietly. "Maya, the system you are... in..." She grimaced at that but continued. "Is it just you or does it have databases as well?"

-I don't...- Maya broke off and gasped. -It d _oes!_ I didn't see them. They are categorized alphabetically and I think these are acronyms. They make no sense to me.- She gasped again, in awe this time. -It is reorienting! Changing and I can understand them now. Each has a simple tooltip. Why?-

"Because whether we are in flesh and blood bodies or mechanical ones..." Feedback said with snort. 'Most humans are lazy."

"Efficient." Beta snorted from where he was working. "It is not laziness to do things as efficiently as possible."

"Leaving you time to laze about." Feedback slung right back and Beta chuckled. It was obviously an old joke between the two and Mina smiled at the byplay. "Some of us get bored with nothing to do, you know?"

"Well, _some_ of us are-" Beta broke off, looking at Mina and shook his head even as Feedback snorted agreement. Some things were not for kids.

-Oh my god!- Maya's voice held awe and horror in equal measure.

"Maya?" Feedback was at the chairbound girl's side in an instant. "What is wrong?"

-Saun and Julian are sleeping in here.- Maya's voice was sick. -I enslaved them and didn't even _realize_ it.-

"It wasn't you, Maya." Mina said sharply even as Feedback opened her mouth to say the same thing. "Yes, he hurt you, made you do bad things. But you are not responsible."

-I feel responsible, but yeah.- Maya's mechanical voice was soft. -Jane Kelly said the same thing. Good news is, the database shows access points for the flight systems. Bad news is that I cannot access it myself. The whatever I am in is disconnected from the other system completely. Oh...- Her tone changed to anger. -To keep me from _escaping_. That _scum!_ -

"No argument here, Maya." Feedback said with a scowl. "So... access? Beta!" She called and the tech nodded, he had been listening.

"Give me the protocols, Maya and I can get in." Beta promised. "Then we can see about helping Shogun." He jerked as something went 'bang' inside the cockpit. "Not that she needs it, but the brass will want _something_ from the ship."

"And she may not _leave_ anything."

* * *

Elsewhere

Jane was having _fun_. She couldn't remember the last time she had cut loose completely. When she had just let her emotions fly free. Not just rage, but other emotions as well. Sadness, grief, happiness, fear, greed, envy, all kinds of things sang through the environment . The other recoiled away from each and every one as Jane pressed her attack.

Whatever she was facing was not an AI. It wasn't smart enough to be one. Even a Gremlin's limited AI wouldn't have stayed in such a lopsided contest. Any of Lily's creations would have fled. They were not stupid. The other had no chance. Every time it summoned some means to try and hold her, Jane tore it apart. Jane wasn't sure if this was a dream world, some kind of virtual interface or a computer of some kind. She didn't really care to tell the truth. She was having fun.

Another wave of Advent uniformed humans appeared and Jane cut them down with precise blasts from her Storm Gun. One, by dint of being behind the unfortunate mass, was groaning in pain as she drew her blade and cut once. A Gatekeeper appeared nearby and she fired from the hip, her weapon cutting clean through it in a way that simply did not happen in the real world. They were far too heavily armored for a single shotgun blast to take down. She spun in a circle, seeking a new opponent.

"Jane Kelly?" A soft voice had Jane spinning and firing even as she realized it was _Mina_!

" _Ah!_ " The girl fell, clutching her stomach even as Jane recoiled.

"Mina?" Jane shook her head and snarled. "No! Another trick! Die!"

Her finger squeezed the trigger.


	18. Chapter 18

**Recovery**

 _ **Stop.**_

The word wasn't verbal. It wasn't mental. It was neither of those and both. It was everywhere. Jane froze, her finger almost to the point of releasing another cloud of the plasma propelled shards of alien alloy that were the hallmark of the Storm Gun at the defenseless girl who lay on the ground staring at her.

 _ **I told you not to do that.**_ The words were odd, but the irate voice was recognizable. Beta, her team's tech. Jane swallowed hard as she stared from Mina to the surrounding area and then to the weapon in her hand. _**It is okay, Shogun. I stopped you in time.**_ _**She isn't hurt, just scared.**_

"I..." Jane swallowed hard. "I could have..."

"You didn't." Mina rose, showing Jane her stomach where a cluster of shards had hit her. They stood a few millimeters out from her skin, caught in a glowing shell of something that Jane could barely see. Was that computer code? She brushed them off and they clattered to the floor. That shouldn't have been possible, such shards were razor sharp. But her hand wasn't cut at all. "He said you would not believe me. That you would fire if I tried to show myself before explaining. I didn't understand. I am sorry I startled you." She held out her hands to Jane who stared at them. "It is really me, Jane Kelly. Maya is unable to access this system or she would have come."

"And I would have shot _her_." Jane said weakly, her Storm Gun falling to her side. "I..."

 _ **We need to leave.**_ The voice of Beta was tense. _**Now. The system has recognized our intrusion and is activating countermeasures. I think it is starting a wipe.**_

"I don't know how." Jane said weakly.

"We do." Mina reached out and took Jane's hand. Jane didn't dare move as the girl stepped closer. "I don't understand the code parts, but we need to be close." She hugged Jane tight. "And it feels a little weird."

Jane didn't know what to do, so she laid her arms around the girl. Suddenly, they were elsewhere. A hideous scream of rage sounded behind her and was gone as quickly as it had started. She was passing through something, around something and-

Jane coughed suddenly as her chest tightened spasmodically. She focused herself, just breathing as hushed whispers sounded around her. But it was another voice that had her smiling. Hollywood.

"Nice of you to finally wake up, Sleeping Beauty." The sniper sounded both relieved and aggravated. "That was dumb. Brave but dumb."

"I didn't _plan_ on that happening, Hollywood." Jane opened her eyes and regretted it as they hurt. A small hand touched her cheek and the pain faded. "That was... wow. I don't know."

"You left your body to help Maya and your friend." A young male voice said from close at hand. "You scared us all, Jane Kelly. We thought you had perished."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Jane quipped as she opened her eyes again, more cautiously this time. They didn't hurt and the dark skinned boy sitting beside her smiled as she looked at him. "X-Com agents are never more _dangerous_ than when they are _dead_."

"What?" The boy asked, completely confused, but Hollywood laughed.

"I wasn't totally sure, but it's her." Jane looked and the sniper wore a wide smirk, her mask hanging loose around her neck. "No one else would quote _that_ at a time like this." She keyed her com. "Feedback? It worked. Shogun is awake and about as lucid as she _ever_ is."

"Well, _you_ are still cruisin' for a bruisin'." Jane took a deep breath and slowly sat up, the boy beside her extending a hand that she took gratefully. She was very weak, but her strength was coming back.

"Don't corrupt the kids, Shogun." Hollywood said with a groan. "At least not until _after_ High Command has talked to them."

"Status?" Jane asked.

"Syndrome was pulled out of the ship before it could do anything to him, he is sleeping off whatever sedative the ship gassed him with." Hollywood said quietly. "Duke and Beta are scanning the ship and it has two distinct sections, the troop bay where the manufacturing bits are the flight control where you were. Well, it _had_ a flight control section. What happened, boss? Get mad again?"

"Something like that." Jane smiled but the smile faded as the door opened and Feedback charged in, her Gremlin following. "Ah, Feedback... um..."

"Be _very_ glad there are young and impressionable minds present." The medic said flatly as she moved to Jane's bedside, the dark skinned boy making way for her. "Or I would tell you _exactly_ what I think of you." Several of the kids looked curious, but Feedback just shook her head and pulled out her scanner. "Now... What happened?"

"I don't know." Jane admitted. "I managed to stop the ramp -you are _welcome_ by the way- but something tore me from Maya. I woke up with someone trying to use my memories of captivity against me." Feedback and Hollywood both hissed at that and Jane smiled. "Yeah, the same as Doctor Shockton tried."

"And I assume you reacted in the same understated manner?" Feedback shook her head as she perused the readouts. The kids seemed fascinated by the Gremlin and the tiny bot zoomed here and there, drawing smiles as Feedback worked. "They _still_ tell stories in the bar about his girly shrieks."

"It wasn't _my_ fault he pushed buttons that should not have been pushed." Butter might not have melted in Jane's mouth.

"You tore _everything_ in his office apart all the way to the _walls_." Feedback had a glower on her face that was spoiled by a tiny smile. "He thought you were going to start on _him_ next."

"He knew what happened the first two times." Jane lay back and smiled in memory. "It wasn't my fault. He wanted to push me past my breaking point. He _did_. End of story."

"Shogun..." Feedback groaned in mock dismay. "You broke his arm in three places. _One_ might have been justified, but _three_? You just wanted to make your point. Which you _did_." She shook her head sadly. "You are _such_ a pain, boss."

"Guilty as charged." Jane's smile faded as she looked at the team medic. "Well?"

"Can you sit up all the way?" Feedback asked as Jane did as instructed. The Gremlin flew around her, its scanners whirring. "Okay, try standing. There isn't anything wrong with your body but you were not _in_ it for a while. I bet there will be side effects. If there are not, we can probably shift Maya back into her body the same way."

"Take no chances." Jane rose slowly and stood, her body feeling as it always had. Almost. Her head hurt. "I feel okay, still tired. My head hurts a little, but I am okay." Both turned to the dark skinned boy as he coughed. "Yes?"

"The neural trauma is still present. It feels like a wrongness in your head." The boy said quietly. "But we do not have any idea how to cure it. Mr. Syndrome said it would take time." The medic and ranger looked at one another and nodded.

"I _will_ try to avoid having my mind yanked out of my body again." Jane said dryly enough that the boy flushed. "But seriously? Thank you." She bent down to the boy's level and opened her arms. He stepped forward and gave her a hug. "I would hug all of you, but then we would be here all day. I promise to give you all some appreciation later. Right now? We need to figure out how to get everyone out of here and the ship too if we can safely."

"We have been so focused on you and Maya that we haven't looked at much else." Feedback confessed. "Moving eighty three people is not a trivial exercise at the best of times. Now? With an Advent force breathing down our necks?"

"We do best under pressure, Feedback." Jane kept the rebuke minimal. "You know that."

"Yeah." Feedback allowed. "But this is..." She trailed off as Jane looked at her. "Right, Boss. Welcome back."

"Right." Jane took a deep breath and then turned to Hollywood. "Hollywood? You okay?"

"Getting close to needing a break." The sniper replied evenly. "But good for another hour or so." A bunk was cleared nearby and she shook her head. "I need..."

"What are the first two rules of Infantry, Hollywood?" Jane asked then spoke quickly. "The _clean_ ones!" She commanded when Hollywood opened her mouth. The sniper smiled a little and nodded.

"Eat when you can and sleep when you can. You never get enough of either when... stuff starts happening." Hollywood sighed and moved to the bunk. A couple of kids moved their pillows onto it and she shook her head. "Don't waste your pillows. I don't need them in my armor and I am a bit of mess still."

"Don't break her." Jane said flatly and the kids all stared at her. "For combat, I need a cold and merciless sniper, not a doting mother. Once we are all safe, I will turn you loose on her. I am curious what will happen." Hollywood favored Jane with a look but did not speak, lying back and closing her eyes. To all appearances, she was instantly asleep.

"All right." Jane rose, patted the dark skinned boy on the shoulder and moved towards the door. He followed as Feedback did. "You coming?"

"Mina had an idea that might work or it might not." The boy said with a frown. "I am Chris, by the way."

"Right." Jane stretched a little as she walked with Feedback right behind her. "Didn't get any names but Mina's when I came in. Trying to remember eighty seven of your names will be interesting."

"Come on, boss." Feedback snorted. "You will program your HUD with their identifications just like the rest of us will."

"Here I am trying to act empathic and you burst my bubble." Jane complained with mock sincerity. "And you call _me_ bad?"

"You _are_ bad, boss." Feedback said with a grin. "But you are our boss. Have been ever since that bar in Mumbai after the Fortress raid."

"That wasn't me." Jane replied automatically. "That was Firefly. You know that."

"Firefly would have used her _mind_ , not a _table_." Feedback retorted. "I don't _care_ what she said, after. We all knew it was you." Chris stared from one to the other and Feedback heaved a fake sigh. "Humans are the single most contrary creatures we have ever encountered. Even the aliens, as vicious as they can be, are not often acting against their natures. Nowhere remotely close to humans anyway. I have never seen an alien drunk."

"Slither told us that her people were viscous and heartless, but she did not know why. She grew up with us." Chris said sadly after a moment's thought. "What happened?"

"Let's just say that particular bar will never have a problem serving people who look different from normal humans ever again." Jane said flatly. Feedback smothered a laugh and Jane shook her head. "And it _was_ Firefly. Not me."

"Her blood alcohol level said she couldn't have lifted a _glass_ with her mind, let alone that _table_." Feedback said with a grunt. "And Syndrome was passed out by then." Pain sang in her tone, but when Jane looked at her, the medic's face was blank.

"Humans are capable of incredible things under stress." Jane pointed out. "And the _guns_ pointed at us _were_ stressful."

"And the fact that if it hadn't been one of the team psis who are in such short supply, whoever _else_ might have done it might have been forced to stay in jail, perhaps tear _it_ up when she had bad dreams or was assaulted there had _nothing_ to do with it." Feedback wasn't arguing. She was stating fact.

"I don't fight cops." Jane replied. "Even dumb ones or bureaucratic ones who couldn't catch a _cold_ without an Advent team on standby. Firefly took credit for tossing the table. She took the _blame_ when we were hauled before the Commander." The glare she turned on Feedback was strong enough that the medic paused in mid-step. "The record is clear."

"She didn't give you the _chance_ to _talk_ , did she?" Feedback stared at Jane, eyes wide. Jane ignored her question. The medic muttered something soft in German. " _Dummkopfs_ , the _lot_ of you. Of _us_."

"Been said." Jane relented and continued to walk. Chris was shaking his head. "Yes, Chris. We have some characters in our ranks, but we needed them all." She looked away. "We lost a lot of good people over the years, but we managed to win."

"There is so much more to learn." Chris complained halfheartedly. "Mom taught us what she could, but there was so much she did not have information for."

The three entered the hangar to the surprising sound of Mina laughing. Beta was between the ship and Maya's chair, working on something. It was the robot that had both X-Com troops gawking. Duke was upside down, balanced on two mechanical hands.

"Duke?" Jane asked and the robot swung down to stand as he usually did, weapon coming to the ready. "What the heck?"

"I did not think he could balance well enough on his hands." Mina said quickly. "He said he could and showed me when I asked. Please do not be angry. He did as I asked, not more."

"Okay." Jane said with a frown that faded as Mina looked worried. "Mina. It is okay. And..." She moved to where the girl stood, then knelt in front of her. "I am sorry." Mina stepped lose and hugged her tight. "I am so sorry I scared you, Mina."

"Mr. Beta told me to announce myself first. He said that you would react badly to someone just popping in." Mina said after a moment. "I didn't believe him. You didn't hurt me." Mina hugged her again and retreated. "I did have an idea, but everyone said you are in charge and we will need more information first."

"Information rarely hurts even if it is rarely what we want or as much as we want." Jane agreed. "So, this idea?"

"We are underground a long way." Mina said after a glance at Beta who smiled encouragingly at her. "We cannot get the ship out and the rest of us could never get out the way you got in."

"The only way the ship would move is by killing a lot of people, Mina." Jane said flatly and Mina and Chris both recoiled. "It won't happen. I won't let it."

"Good." Mina and Chris chorused and grinned at each other. Mina turned to the ship and spoke again.

"As bad as this ship is, it is a powerful weapon for you and your people." Mina said quietly. "If we come empty handed, we are no better than refugees, no?"

"We wouldn't toss you out on your ears, Mina." Jane replied, unsure where this was going. "If nothing else, you all are psis. We cannot let you fall into alien hands." She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, but Mina just nodded.

"Thank you." Chris said quietly. "After what they did to Mom, none of us have any wish to help them at all. So... Mina?'

"Yeah, um... Miss Feedback was telling us a few stories about your adventures." Mina smiled at Feedback who shook her head. "She said something that stuck with us. You can 'phase'." She enunciated the word.

"Yes, sort of. I cannot phase through three hundred _meters_ or so of rock, Mina." Jane said flatly. "And straight _up_? No. I couldn't even carry anything with me. It's a bit of a downer at times, but it works for me."

"Could we hook whatever makes you able to do that onto the ship?" Mina asked, her expression earnest. "Then once the ship is safe for us to get into, we all do, take off and fly out of here."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a sec..." Jane said as Beta smiled at them. "Beta?"

"The fabrication machinery can be disabled, boss." Beta said quietly from where he stood. "I can shut it down. We would need a flight controller."

-I can do that.- Maya's voice came for the first time from the box and Jane spun to stare at it. -I can. My body was meant to reside in the cockpit area. There is even a space for the chair already.-

"And then how do we disconnect you when you get us free?" Jane asked reasonably. There was no answer and she scowled. "No! Not happening!"

-Jane Kelly.- Maya's voice was soft, but clear. -You helped me. Let me help you.-

"No!" Jane snapped. "We already lost two of your siblings to EXALT. I do not want to lose you too!"

-You won't.- Maya's voice held humor now. -According to Mr. beta, the thing that would have changed me into an EXALT slave was... What was the phrase you used, Mr. Beta?-

"Um..." Beta flushed as Jane looked at him. "Didn't mean for you to hear that one, Maya."

-'All the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put that godforsaken piece of crap back together again once the crazy Irishwoman get done with it'?- Maya asked. -What is so bad about that?-

Jane crossed her arms and glared at Beta who winced and nodded. "Ah... Um... Well, that is complicated, Maya." Jane's eyes took on a steely cast and Beta actually gulped. "Let's just say there have been some differences in opinion between my birthplace and Jane's."

Jane had to smile at the Scotsman's fast recovery. Then again, he was likely the smartest of the team if not always the best at dealing with people instead of tech.

"So..." Jane mused. "If it _can_ work..."

"Then we can all go home." Mina said quietly. "I am sick of this place. _We_ are sick of this place. We want to see our Mom again." Jane had no argument for that. There really wasn't any other way to get the ship out that she could see.

"All right. Beta, Duke, you are on the tech part. Feedback, you are to keep tabs on Maya and get ready to move everyone into the ship. It will be _very_ crowded, so we should wait for Syndrome and Hollywood to finish their naps." Jane said with a wince. "l will... find something else to wear." Beta's eyes lit up and she growled dangerously. She speared him with a finger and he froze. "Don't even _think_ it. This goes for _everyone_. If _one_ picture of me out of armor gets circulated, someone _gets hurt_. Clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am."


	19. Chapter 19

**Adventures  
**

Some days, it was really good to be Advent. Things had been incredibly calm for years, with only fringe elements here and there causing trouble as was their wont. Such disorganized fighters were easily discovered and easily stamped out. Humans being humans, such things rarely ended well for such groups, but in the end, numbers had always prevailed.

But then, things had changed.

First had come the disruption of the tactical network that all Advent troops had relied on to stay one step ahead of their enemies. No one in Advent HQ had ever bothered to explain to the grunts why or how the disruption had happened. It had. Then the upcropping of a 'Resistance' had started. Not in one place, it seemed to happen _everywhere_ almost all at once. Then the rumors had started. HQ squelched them mercilessly as often as they heard their human workers whispering them, but no matter how hard they had come down on the whispers, the whispers had kept up.

X-Com. X-Com was working. X-Com was coming. X-Com was on the rise.

None of the rank and file knew what X-Com had been. They didn't need that information to do their jobs. Only a few of the highest Advent ranks had access to anything like a detailed history for the period of time prior to Unification. For most of them, it wasn't germane to their existence. They worked, they obeyed, they lived to serve their masters.

Then had come a series of humiliations. Research site after research site had been attacked and destroyed before reinforcements could arrive by highly trained operatives with equipment far more advanced than most Advent had ever seen who simply appeared out of nowhere to strike, kill and vanish as quickly as they had appeared, leaving nothing but destroyed facilities and dead Advent in their wake. No matter how well defended or isolated the site might be, the enemy always found them. Only on a few occasions had any Advent forces managed to fend off the attackers and on most of _those_ occasions, the humans had vanished as quickly as they had come, often taking their dead with them. It was known that a small transport had been seen picking up the troops in those situations, but the only records of it were from helmet cameras that always left a lot to be desired resolution wise.

Resistance members had been caught in large numbers, but the information they had provided had been slim. It was a closely guarded secret that only _two_ of the human X-Com operatives had been captured alive. One had died before interrogation had been attempted despite heroic efforts on the part of medical personnel. The other had _vanished_ from a prison cell in the wake of yet _another_ humiliating attack. The few bits of equipment captured with those two shed no light on the enemy. It was all built of human tech, but far different from even the regular humans had used prior to Unification.

Orders had always been clear from the very beginning. X-Com were enemy. Destroy the enemy. There was just one _tiny_ problem with that.

X-Com were no pushovers. So, this was _not_ a good day to be Advent.

"Report." Central eyed the repeater link as three of his operatives engaged the enemy column they had been harassing all day from long range. He smiled as a Sectopod took a full power Plasma Lance shot and exploded. This was a _far_ cry from his awful memories of the last war. Today's battles had almost always been in X-Com's favor since they could pick and choose their battles but in battle, people got hurt. It was a minor miracle that none of his people had been killed yet, but three of the deployed teams had already been evacced with critical wounds.

"They are not stopping, sir." Major Daniel Sharps, call sign 'Monster', said with a sigh as he too eyed the battle from far closer. "We have hurt them, cost them about three platoons so far. But they are not even slowing. Odd though, they are not heading for the town. Where are they _going_?"

"I don't know." Central said with a scowl as he looked to where the Commander was ensconced in the tactical display.

Ordinarily, having a tactical commander offsite was recipe for disaster. That had been known ever since the First World War, where commanders miles behind the battle fields had ordered operations with no knowledge at all of the local conditions. The history of the time was downright awful and most militaries had learned their lessons. The problem was, the aliens had never fought like any Earth army. If they could access the human command links, they often severed them. X-Com had spent a great deal of time and effort to consolidate the abilities of their commander into a way to direct the battles almost in real time. It wasn't perfect, as had been shown on the assault on the alien fortress. Even with the Commander on site there in an Avatar of X-Com make, it had been a _very_ close run thing. If the tactical command _hadn't_ been there on the ground, the entire team might have been lost and the aliens victorious. Bradford did not like thinking about that.

"Harry them as best you can." Central said quietly. "But do not hazard your command. They have to be after the kids, but if they are not heading for the bunker..." He paused as an awful thought occurred. "Do they know another way in?"

"I don't see how." Monster replied. "They are heading for the _coast_. There could be caves, but it isn't something we can check at the moment. We are a little busy." He said dryly. "Stand by."

Bradford stared as the display changed, showing a Ranger charging a Muton. The alien soldier was busy firing at another X-Com agent and didn't see Monster until it was far too late. A swipe of the ranger's axe and the alien fell, never to rise. Bradford could only whistle in awe as the rest of Monster's understrength team picked off the now disorganized members of the Muton's pod. That alien force had come close to flanking the team, which might have spelled disaster. But Monster had lived up to his team name.

"Back, Central." Monster's voice was little winded. "They are getting sneaky. This is getting a bit more dangerous than it was. Orders?"

"Unchanged." Central eyed the Commander, but the other was busy. "Just... stay a bit further back if you can. We need to know where they are going, but if they are not heading for the town, our imperatives just got less imperative."

"Roger that, sir." Monster jerked and Central cursed as the screen became distorted. "Sir... Advent... distortion..." The come cut out with the scratching of static.

"What the hell?" Central demanded of his bridge crew.

"Advent is jamming, sir." A com tech reported.

"Radar contacts!" Another said in the mounting frenzy. "Multiple Advent troop transports! Moving to flank the deployed teams!" The Commander jerked and then started issuing commands over the dedicated coms, spreading out the teams to lessen the impact of the Advent trap. Central jerked as the com switched to internal.

"Command, this is Firebrand." The pilot sounded a little tense, but oddly calm.

"They are heavily engaged Firebrand and about to be overrun by those transports." Central said savagely. "No time for you to pick them up."

"That is not why I am calling, sir." Central stiffened at her tone. Oddly joyous. "Lily just called me. She has a surprise for you, if you wish it."

"Lily?" Central demanded. "What?" He shook himself. "If she has a surprise that can help, go for it!"

"Lily, time to kick the tires and light the fires." Firebrand said with glee. "Sam? Give 'em hell!"

"Sam?" Central jerked as new sound tore through the bridge. High power engines close at hand. But then, they rumbled into the distance. Central paled. "Uh... _what_ did I just authorize?"

"Whiskey One-One outbound." The voice from the com _was_ Sam, but calm, professional. "Hostile transports in view. Engaging. Fox Three." The sky ahead filled with smoky contrails. "Winchester missiles. Guns, Guns, Guns.

Central stared at the radar screen and first one and then another Advent transport fell to something he couldn't track. They were dropping like flies. He keyed the com to Engineering.

"Lily?" Central demanded. "What did you _do?_ "

"I made a prototype second generation Firespark drone." Lily said quietly. "Faster than the first. Armed."

"Without _telling_ me?" Central nearly exploded.

"I finished it _ten minutes_ ago." Lily said firmly. "You were a bit busy. Sam and his mom came by and I showed him. Then we heard about the trap. He swore an oath to the Commander, Central." Bradford spun to stare at the Commander who nodded gravely before turning back to the displays.

"He is a _kid_!" Central snapped.

"No, he is not." Lily said quietly. "Now? He is X-Com and he is giving Advent _hell_. I have another being prepped right now for Reverb."

" _Reverb_?" Central was reeling from the shocks even as the last of the Advent transports fell from the sky.

"Advent interceptors!" The radar tech called and then jerked almost all the way out of her seat.. "WHAT THE FU-!"

Central could only stare as _something_ climbed right out of the middle of the firefight that was still raging. Advent forces fired at it. And...was it his imagination that the shots went clean through it? The blocky shape was familiar. The ship prototype that EXALT had stolen had just flown up _through_ the Earth.

"Oh boy." Central swallowed as the Avenger's sensors got a good look at the thing. It was _packed_ with life signs.

"Looks like Sam's family is coming to visit."

* * *

The sky

Sam threw the drone into what earlier pilots would have called an Immelmann, climbing, turning and rolling all in one, and slid into position behind the closest interceptor. They were slightly faster than he was, but he was far more maneuverable and had started in a very good position. They either could not see him or had orders to focus on something else. Like the blocky looking thing that was even now climbing from where it had slid _right out of the ground_. It was big, far bigger than the Advent ships, let alone Sam's drone. Larger than the Skyranger or the Advent transports. Sam realized it was the type of craft that Lily had called an Avenger like the big carrier that his body was on. It looked ugly, blocky and angular. Nothing like the sleek lines of his Firespark.

His plasma cannon tore the interceptor he had been tailing into pieces even as he targeted another. There were four of them left though and they were all focusing on the newcomer. He groaned as globs of plasma lanced out from each of them and then went still as the globs flew right through the ship! Was it really there?

"What the-?" Sam demanded over com and was stunned to hear a reply from a familiar voice.

"Sam!" Maya sounded tense, but exhilarated the same time. "Our intangibility won't last much longer. Get these things off us!"

"Roger." Same spun his drone around on its long axis, firing twice in rapid succession. Two interceptors flashed into incandescent fireballs. He snarled as the other two bored in at the larger craft, accelerating out of his sights. "Oh no, you _don't!_ "

The two Advent craft split up as he pursued them. He debated for half a second then focused his fire on one of them. It spun in three dimensions, evading his fire, but not getting anywhere closer to the ship Maya was operating. The other one was closing on Maya!

"I can't hit him!" Sam snapped. "Maya! Does that thing have weapons?"

"Yes, but we did not get the chance to test them." Maya said with a gulp. "They have been sitting for twenty years. Also, they are fixed. Forward firing only." She turned the ship, but it moved far slower than Sam's drone or the Advent interceptors.

"I am going to give you a shot at the one I am engaged with, Maya." Sam declared as he turned and accelerated the drone in a way that would have made any human pilot lose consciousness. "Don't miss please. This is brand new and I don't want to see if the armor works."

"Sam, what are you-?" Maya's voice cut off with a gasp of shock as Sam threw his thrusters into reverse and came to a complete stop in mid-air. A wonderful platform for long range shooting and a simple target for anyone and anything. Good thing the Advent forces probably couldn't see the tiny Firespark from the ground or he wouldn't have lasted a second hanging in mid-air that way.

The sudden deceleration threw off the Advent he had been dogfighting, it was way out of position for a shot as Sam lined up the one that had eluded him carefully. His sole cannon fired and the Advent interceptor that had been going for Maya's ship lurched as plasma bit deep into it. But it was still flying! Sam fired again but then threw his ship to the side as the enemy he had been facing tore at him, firing steadily.

Pain lanced through him as something connected. He bit back the instinctive scream and flung his Firespark on its side, _towards_ the enemy that had wounded him. The unexpected maneuver threw off the interceptor's targeting and Sam managed to get his wounded drone close to the other. Now though, they seemed evenly matched maneuverability wise and Sam couldn't get a shot. But neither could the Advent so one was occupied. The other one was turning towards him too and- He smiled as Maya's ship fired and the damaged Advent bird disintegrated in mid-air. But then he screamed in shock as a sun bright flash lit the front of Maya's ship.

"Maya!" Sam called, worry for his sister shunting his own pain and fear aside.

"I am okay! I am okay." Maya's voice was shaken, but it didn't have pain. "The armor took it. Sam..." She pleaded as the interceptors turned toward her ship.

"Both of you. Get low." A new voice sounded and Sam tensed as Jane Kelly's voice registered. That wasn't a _suggestion_. "If they hit us, everyone dies. Go for the deck, Maya. Sam, can you cover?"

"Roger." Sam threw his drone into a maneuver that defied description. Part turn, part dive, part skid, it felt downright odd to be moving that way. Maya's blocky ship fell like a stone and Sam followed even as his senses swam in belated recognition of the sudden change in orientation. He could feel bits of Firespark's skin flaking off, the ablative armor that Lily had coated the drone with burnt by the hit. It had done its job however. Such powerful plasma cannon as the Advent ships mounted should have turned the Firespark into a pint sized ball of sun hot fury.

The Advent were taken by surprise by the sudden change. They followed, their greater speed allowing them to overtake and start firing in seconds. Sam kept his drone between the Advent and Maya, sliding her and there as green plasma flew all around him. Sizzling feedback from near misses surged through his nerves, but he ignored them, focusing on his mission to the exclusion of all else. But it couldn't last. He was rapidly running out of sky.

"Whatever you are going to do-" Sam started and then yelped as the ground in front of them lit up.

Three lines of fire came up from the ground, aimed not at Sam and Maya, but at the _Advent_. The two interceptors had followed predictable paths to try and burn Sam from the sky and that cost them. Both exploded in rapid succession. Sam followed Maya's ship as it slowed and then came to a hover in front of three silvery forms. Two hulking humanoid forms stood near a gaping crater in the ground that looked odd, as if it had come up instead of being blown out. The third was wheeled, something he had never seen before. All had _big_ guns. He maintained overwatch even as Maya's ship landed.

"We have injured." Maya said flatly. "I didn't expect to dogfight. No one was strapped in, but we were tightly packed. No fatalities, but lots of injuries. Feedback is on it, but has requested help. Any more Advent?"

"Negative." Central's voice was subdued, almost awed. "Skies are clear and the Advent ground forces are retreating towards the coast. Odd that. They have nowhere to go once there, but they are not engaging even when fired on. Medical teams are en route. Sam, status?"

"Hurts but I am functional." Sam replied. "One hit that did damage but it isn't impairing flight control. I better get Lily and the doc to check before I unlink." No one had any idea if damage to the ship would translate to damage to his body over the odd link, so better safe than sorry.

"Your mom is not happy." Central said sourly. "I just got an earful. Reverb is taking a drone to provide high cover."

"What?" Jane Kelly demanded.

"He is a little different." Central said dryly. "But not as much as some of us had _hoped_."

"With all due respect, Central. I do the job." The familiar voice of the arrogant psi sounded. "Firespark Two assuming overwatch. Let them _come_."

"I have low guard." Sam replied, his tone to the other drone operator calm and assured. "But... How did you know to bring the enemy here?"

"Shortest distance between two points is a straight line." Jane Kelly's voice held a bubble of mirth. "We did not have space for everyone, so Duke, Saun and Julian volunteered to make their own way out."

"Saun? Julian?" Sam felt his world start to collapse but it solidified as the voice of one of his brothers sounded. The other was mechanical, but held a measure of elation.

-We couldn't let you and Maya have all the fun.- Saun's tone held old pain, fear and loss, but it was calm otherwise. -Who says you pilots should get all the adventures?-

"Adventures." Sam would have shaken his head if he _could_.

"If only you knew..."


	20. Chapter 20

**Close enough**

Jane wasn't usually an eavesdropper anywhere out of the field, but in this case, she felt entitled. She had been sent to check and was gratified to hear the voice she had been asked to check on free of pain.

"What I don't understand is how you got Saun and Julian free so fast." Sam was uncomfortable, that was clear. The beds in his hospital room were not designed for long term comfort as much as for functionality. He was a mess, but he was alive and that was what counted. "Yes, I can see Jane..." He paused and corrected himself. "I mean _Colonel_ Kelly, getting the suit geared up to the ship with the help of her team's tech and the machine built into it. But from what I gathered from the others, Saun and Julian were lost."

-I thought so.- Maya's voice came from the intercom. She wasn't present and she couldn't be, ever again. It still hurt, what had happened. But Maya was adapting. Her voice wasn't as mechanical sounding now as it had been, but it was clear to anyone listening that it wasn't a little girl anymore either. -But the team checked and they were asleep, not gone. Jane and I woke them up and they decided to swear allegiance to her.- Maya laughed. -You should have heard her shriek when they said that.-

"Telling stories, Maya?" Sam stiffened as Jane entered the medical ward. She waved for him to relax. "Don't strain, Sam. You did a good thing, but it hurt you badly in the process." She sat down beside his bed and took his hand in hers. "It had to be done so you did it. But that was crazy."

"What is it that Syndrome says?" Sam asked with a smile. "'Pot meet kettle'?"

"Don't use Syndrome or me as a role model." Jane warned. "We are hardly good inspirations for sanity, either of us."

-You do what has to be done.- Maya said quietly through the com. -As do we all now.-

Jane had to sigh at that. Maya would likely never be able to leave the ship she had flown. Jane had argued. Feedback had argued. She wasn't sure if Syndrome had or not, the psi was incredibly closemouthed about a lot of stuff. Maya had taken the choice out of their hands when she had transferred herself into the ship without assistance. Feedback, Beta and Duke hadn't had a choice but to mount her body where it had originally been intended to go. The stasis tube her body now resided in was crude by X-Com standards, but functional. Her body would not age. Her mind was fully in control of the small Avenger, for whatever good that would do now.

Maya had managed to land the ship, but almost as soon as she had, several important systems had failed. It was a miracle that none of them had failed in the air. The small Avenger would not be flying ever again. It was not safe to fly it and frankly? X-Com found the machine within it far too important to risk again. The scientists and engineers were crawling all over it, leaving Maya's stasis tube strictly alone. No one was happy about this outcome, but Maya was being stoic. Maybe the docs and engineers could figure out a way to disconnect her safely. Until then? She was part of the ship and she had done what needed to be done. She had saved all of her siblings.

It was Sam that really worried Jane and the others. His drone had taken serious damage in the fight with Advent. He too had managed to land, but then he had fallen unconscious. He hadn't woken until they had arrived here, a day later. Jane hadn't left his bedside the whole time. Reverb was on probation, his attitude was slightly changed, less arrogance, more professionalism. His passenger was remaining with him for now, helping him deal with the horrors in his past her way. She had asked Jane to help tend her flock and Jane had been willing. Too many shocks, too quickly had left Jane reeling and she too needed time.

The base was not much at all. A few buildings, a small underground facility that was growing and an airstrip. A team of X-Com agents were posted as security for now. Jane hoped X-Com could figure out a way to ensure security without wasting a team, but the others on site seemed to think of it as a vacation. Fully armed and armored agents patrolling an old military base in the middle of a desert was considered a _vacation_. Jane had to wonder at her teammates sanity at times.

"I don't know if I have said it enough, Sam." Jane gave his hand a squeeze. "Well done."

"I was having fun." Sam said quietly. "It felt amazing. I was free for just a moment. I was totally free." His eyes took a faraway cast and Jane squeezed his hand _hard_. He jerked and focused on her.

"Stay with us, Sam." Jane said sharply. "Stay with me. You cannot link to the drone while it is being repaired. You _must_ not." That was the problem now. Sam needed the connection. It was, as the command staff had feared, an addiction. Sam needed his fix badly and if he connected to a drone that was half disassembled... No one knew what would happen, but the guesses were horrific. "You will fly again, Sam. We just need time to figure this out. Lily blames herself."

"I know." Sam gulped. "It is not her fault. I did what I had to do. I have no regrets, Colonel."

"I do." Jane just held his hand. "Regret is part and parcel to having emotions and memories. Humans make mistakes. We all do. I do. You do. Central and the Commander do." Sam looked away and Jane gave his hand other squeeze, gentler this time. "Anyway, I come with news. For you and Maya, Sam." A gulp sounded from the intercom and Jane turned to the camera that allowed Maya to se the room. 'Nothing bad, Maya, I promise."

-I thought they would go for expediency.- Maya had a minute quaver in her voice, and who could blame her?

Some techs had been pressing to disassemble the ship she was in to get at the machine within. Considering that she could fee the ship's hull as her skin, the results would not be pleasant. It had come to blows and almost to worse when Jane's team had flatly refused the tech's access. One of them hadn't believed the team's stories and started to remove the fused remnants of the old plasma beam weapon that had exploded in the fight. His welding torch had seared Maya badly. Small wonder that she had screamed. The team had drawn weapons and it had been tense for several minutes before Jane could calm things down. Even now, the team had eyes on the techs who _knew_ they were under scrutiny. It was still tense.

"Euthanasia was never an option, Maya." Jane said calmly. "You are alive. Your body is alive. There is _nothing_ wrong with it. You are just connected to more." Jane shrugged. "It helped that the whole team was adamant about not letting the techs do that. I have never seen Hollywood so emotional. I am not sure that is an improvement to tell you the truth."

Aside from Duke, all of Jane's team were reeling from their encounter with the kids. Syndrome had retreated into meditation. Feedback was working like a madwoman in the base hospital, assisted by Firefly now. Beta was keeping a watchful eye on Saun and Julian who had volunteered to help guard the base. Neither of their robotic forms needed sleep, but both needed periodic recharging and no one wanted to take the chance that EXALT hadn't laid traps inside them. For now, they were useful and working, so they would continue to do so. Eventually, Beta and the techs would take them in and examine their chassis in detail. It was Hollywood who had frankly worried Jane. The sniper hadn't left Mina's side throughout Maya's ordeal.

-I didn't mean to hurt her.- Maya said softly and Jane shook her head.

"You didn't." The older woman reassured the young one. "Slither's death hit her hard. Almost as hard as it hit you all. She needed the distraction. She needed time away from the horrors we have endured."

"So, instead, she deals with us." Sam had a dubious expression on his face. '"You call this a vacation?"

Jane had to laugh at that but it wasn't really funny. Eighty three kids were no joke at all. It helped that they were remarkably well educated and disciplined. It also helped that their mom was in fairly frequent contact. Reverb was powerful enough to reach their minds from almost anywhere on the planet with her push. They were good kids, but in the end, they were just kids. X-Com had asked for help from the Resistance and a small team of specialists had been selected. The Avenger had flown around the world special just for them and was now on its way back. It had taken quite a bit to get a group of adults who had dealt with kids and could pass the stringent security clearances needed. Some were looking to adopt. Others just wanted to help. In the end though, the kids were potential hostages to Advent so X-Com would be watching them. Probably for the rest of their lives.

Sam was a special case. After seeing -and feeling!- what had happened to him, all of the kids had backed away from the thought of flying. They still wanted to, but not at such dreadful cost. Lily Shen was working on actual piloted machines instead of drones in the hope that those would prove less addicting to their psyches. Apparently whatever the aliens had done to keep the kids young had also ensured their need to serve as the aliens had wished. If Sam had remained connected to his drone, he likely wouldn't have ever wanted to be removed from it. He would have ignored his human body as irrelevant.

"I am alive." Sam gave Jane's hand squeeze. "Where there is life, there is hope. It hurts, this bone deep craving. But I know what it is and you are helping. You are all helping." He shook his head. "I bet this was intended all along. Hook me into a ship and I never want to leave."

-Yeah.-Maya agreed. - I wonder if I feel the same way? I don't think so, but I cannot feel your minds anymore.- Loss sang in her tone and Jane shook her head.

"Hey." Jane admonished them both. "I came with _good_ news." Same perked up and she could almost feel Maya's scrutiny. "First and foremost, Maya. The Command Council -at the strong urging of several people who shall remain nameless- have decided that you are fully sentient and totally capable of making your own decisions. The fact that you are stuck in one place is irrelevant." Jane smiled as Sam's eyes went huge. "Yes, Sam. They said she is not a _thing_. Anyone who tries to treat her like one _will_ regret it. X-Com stands with her. _All of us_."

" _All right!_ " Same crowed only to pause as a sob came from the intercom. "Maya? What is wrong?"

-I don't know.- Maya said weakly. -I was so scared. The team defended me, drew _weapons_ on the techs for me. But I was so scared that they would be ordered to comply. To let the techs tear me apart.-

"Maya, one of the _first_ lessons an officer learns is this." Jane did not offer sympathy. Instead, she nodded. "An officer should never give an order that she _knows_ will not be obeyed. It undercuts her authority and that authority is needed to maintain discipline. Discipline is the only thing that separates an army from a mob. X-Com always had to be an army or we had chance at all. If that order had been given, we would have had a mutiny on our hands."

-I...- Maya gulped again. -Would they have fired, Jane Kelly? Killed your fellow humans for me?-

" _You_ are human, Maya." Jane had no give at all in her tone now. "The techs would have hurt you willingly. Granted, they did not understand the actual situation, but... Yes." Jane admitted. "We would have fired to protect you."

-No!- Maya protested, but Jane cut her off.

"Maya!" Jane snapped. "If I am walking along a street and find a little girl being burned with a torch by someone who cannot _see_ that she is there, _oh hell yes_ I am going to stop him using _whatever_ force is needed!" Sam stared at her and Jane relaxed a little. "Maya. He didn't _believe_ until you screamed. He didn't hear your words until Beta knocked him away from the ship and then they could _all_ hear you crying." She shook her head. "He was shaken by it. By what he had done. He wants to apologize."

-I... I don't know...- Maya was shaken by Jane's declaration, that was clear.

"Later on that." Jane hid a grin. Said tech and his wife had come to Jane, had asked to talk to Maya. They had talked to Mina, apologized to _her_ even when she hadn't been involved. It was early days yet, but Jane liked what she saw. Maybe Maya and Mina had a chance at a family again. Jane hoped so. She gave herself a shake. "Anyway... Sam." Her voice hardened. "Sit up."

"Yes?" Sam sat up as instructed and froze as Jane reached out with a hand to place something on his shoulder. "What is this?" Jane smiled as she did the same for his other shoulder.

"By the authority invested in me by the Command Council of X-Com..." Jane said quietly but firmly. "I hereby promote you from Recruit rank to Flight Ensign, a new rank that the Council approved for flight personnel." Sam's eyes went huge as he stared down at his shoulders, one then the other. Jane continued. "This rank is a solemn responsibility. We must always remember those who have come before. Who paid the ultimate price so that our planet could be free of the threat of extinction."

"But... I can't fly." Sam said weakly.

"Lily is working on that." Jane said with a smile as she took his hand again. "And even if you can't? Sam... You saved us all. You nearly died doing it. You have been one of us since you swore to the Commander. This is just us trying to show you how much we appreciate it. And before you get weepy..." She cautioned. "You _will_ be busy."

"I will?" Sam asked warily.

"You know anyone _else_ who has shot down ten Advent craft in one mission?" Jane smirked at his expression.

"I only got nine." Sam said and then stared at the intercom as Maya started to laugh.

-Only.- Maya managed between chuckles. -You _only_ shot down _nine_ Advent fighter and transport craft, saving an X-Com force from being encircled. Not to mention saving _my_ tail and all the ones I was carrying.-

"One of the transports you hit with a missile crashed on its way out of the area, Sam." Jane said quietly. "You killed it. Ten."

"Oh." Sam said in a tiny voice. "Is it bad that I don't feel bad for shooting them down?" He asked after a moment. Jane looked away for a long moment and when she replied, it was very quiet.

"Many of us have struggled with that." Jane admitted. "Before we knew what the Advent soldiers were, many of thought we were killing humans. Altered humans, but humans. It had to be done..." She sighed deeply. "But that did not make it any easier. It is easy to hate on the battlefield, Sam. It is easy to tell yourself that it is you or them. Advent fights to the death and so do we. There is no room for mercy or quarter in this war. It is not over." She said when Sam stared at her. "Advent is still around, they are still getting orders from somewhere. They wanted you and your siblings."

"What can I do from a bed?" Sam asked.

"You won't be in the bed forever." Jane promised. "Right now, your electrolytes are all out of whack and the docs want you under observation until they stabilize. But... You are going to be working with Firebrand and Reverb to document what you did and how. To teach future X-Com pilots the strengths and weaknesses of the Advent ships they will encounter. Because of there is one thing X-Com knows... The aliens will be back."

"And we will be ready." Sam said with a grim nod.

"We _will_ defend humanity."

Somewhere

 _Do they suspect?_

 _I do not know. I do not think so. You did well._

 _I did the best I could. I never expected to love them. They were..._

 _They are your children in every way that matters. You were and are a very good influence on them. That said, do you wish to continue, sister?_

 _I do. I find I like these humans. I did not expect that when you called me here. On first glance, they are undisciplined, brutish, barbaric. But when you see beyond the exterior... Jane Kelly is a good example. Hard and dangerous but soft and kind at the same time. They are a most fascinating conundrum._

 _I think the same. I have for a very long time._

 _You have done the impossible time and again. We all owe you more than any can say._

 _I work hard to stay in the shadows. There is far more at risk now than anyone besides us knows._

 _Will we be ready, Asaru? I tried so hard. I did my best._

 _You did far more than anyone could have planned. The fate of those young minds was horrific and you saved them from that. Yes, you deceived them. I have deceived so many. But in the end, it is needed to save this world and they would not accept us. Not after what the Elders did._

 _Do you... really think...?_

 _Yes. The enemy that drove the Elders here is coming. We don't know when or how. But it_ **is** _coming. We are not ready, but we must be. Stay with Reverb, do what you can for him. I will continue as I have._

 _He is coming along nicely. He really is a good kid. We stand ready, Commander._ _Vigilo confido_

The Commander of X-Com sat up on his bed and smiled even as the blue aura that was his true nature faded with the psychic contact. Humanity _would_ be protected. Even if no one had a clue that the leader of X-Com wasn't human and had never _been_ human. That did not matter. Humanity needed protecting and it would be.

 _Vigilo confido_


	21. Chapter 21

**Epilogue**

Reverb banked the drone a little, keeping a respectful distance from the large Advent force he was observing. He was still feeling his way through things, and his passenger was helping. He had never had someone he could trust in his life. He was pretty sure she had tweaked his mind a bit while he slept, but to be truthful? He didn't mind much. The thought would have been utterly unthinkable only a few short days ago. But then, everything had changed.

 _You were getting better._ The mind within his said gently. _It wasn't your fault, what happened._

 _I know._ The psi said with a grunt. _We have gone over all of that._

Indeed they had. While his body slept, Reverb had been pulled into an odd virtual environment. One with chairs that had desks attached. No matter how he had struggled, fought, cursed or tried to be stubborn, the other had managed to outlast him. Striking her there never worked either. She never reacted. She had never done any kind of violence that he had seen, he had just stopped wanting to hurt her. Then they had talked. A lot.

 _I grieve for what you suffered._ The other said quietly. _I wanted to help. To save your life. Helping others was always what I wanted to do._

 _You are more human than many humans I have known._ Reverb replied with a hint of his old snark. _That said, I thank you for my life. You didn't have to do that._

 _Yes, I did._ The other said quietly. _X-Com needs all the trained psis it can find. I needed to prove my trustworthiness. You needed help and Jane Kelly was healed. Everyone wins._

 _Except Advent._ Reverb laughed sourly and the other matched his ironic humor.

 _Yes. Except- what? What are they_ _ **doing**_ _?_

Reverb stared at the force in the distance. They were walking directly into the water! He edged the drone a little closer and then felt his guts freeze as bolts of energy flew up from the area towards him. He dodged the fire, it wasn't hard. None of it was well aimed.

 _Are they committing suicide?_ The psi wondered even as the mind within him shared a sense of consternation. All of the Advent were marching into the water.

 _No._ The other replied, uneasy. _Advent does what they are ordered. No more, no less. So someone ordered this force to the water and they are staying at chest height for the Sectoids. Others are holding up the... The Vipers..._ A feeling of grief swept over Reverb and he sighed. He comforted the other as best he could. It did not come naturally.

 _Hollywood put her name on the wall._ Reverb said softly. _She will be remembered._

 _It is never easy to lose one of my charges._ The other mind said sadly. _It has happened. It_ **will** _happen. Death is a part of life. Everything that lives, dies. But it hurts. She was such a good kid._

 _You have my condolences._ A week ago, such a declaration from Reverb would have been unimaginable. Now? He was a better person. _I know what she did hit the team hard. Hollywood in particular. That girl..._

 _I don't think your superiors will let her do as she wishes._ The other cautioned. _She is needed on your teams._

 _We are not slaves._ Reverb mental tone turned flat. Once, he had thought himself a slave to X-Com. Long discussions with the other had shifted his view more than a little. He knew he wasn't owned now. _Like you told me, if she wants to leave, she can. Security will keep an eye on her, but no one will try to stop her._

 _No one is that dumb._ The other laughed and Reverb shared it.

 _Wouldn't end well, no._ Reverb chuckled and htne tsned as the scene ahead of the drone changed. _What the-?_

A Muton at the edge of the large group sank beneath the waves. It didn't flail or thrash. Indeed, it seemed frozen in place. There was no disturbance into the water to indicate a shark or anything. It just sank.

 _The water is not that deep._ Reverb said softly as other aliens started vanishing the same way. Then he felt fear rise as something totally impossible appeared for just a moment from the water before vanishing again. _Did you see that?_ He demanded.

 _Was that a_ **tentacle** _that just pulled that Officer under?_ The other asked tightly. _Why aren't they struggling? There are over two hundred of them just standing there! Why are they letting whatever is pulling the under do it?_ Reverb felt ice gather around his stomach back on the Avenger and the other hissed as realization struck.

 _Because that was what they were ordered to do._ Reverb said softly as more and more of the Advent vanished under the waves. _That was bigger than anything I have heard from Earth that has tentacles. Giant squid might have limbs that long, but they prefer deeper water from what I understand._ The other sent a query and Reverb sent back an impression of a sigh. _At one point when I was very young, I saw a show about someone called 'Cousteau' and I wanted to be a diver. Swimming was always rough, the water near my home was very cold and fast in the rivers. They were not very deep either, nor clear. I never saw the ocean for real until I joined X-Com and we overflew it._

 _Someone_ **ordered** _this Advent and alien force to go to the water and be dragged down into it._ The other in Reverb's mind was hushed and Reverb shared the worry. _Are you thinking what I am thinking?_

 _The team blew up the fortress, but it was underwater._ The last of the Advent sank beneath the waves and Reverb frowned mentally. There was nothing there now. _Take a closer look?_

 _No._ The other said flatly. _We need to report this. The only ones capable of giving such commands to such a large Advent force were the Elders._

 _And they are gone._ Reverb said with a gulp.

 _Are they?_ The other asked. Reverb did not reply, he shunted full power to his drive and then blanched as the water erupted around where the Advent force had vanished. Streamers of energy reached for his drone, but he was dancing away from it at full speed. The last thing he wanted was to take damage. The feedback from a hit was what had hurt Sam so badly. This fire was far more accurate than the last, but he was moving fast and leaving whoever in his dust. _That... isn't plasma._ _It can't be. Not from_ **under** _the water._

 _Don't know._ Reverb replied as he threw the drone through a series of tortuous evasions that kept him alive and unsinged. _Don't really care. Oh crap._

Neither of them spoke as four large _things_ surfaced where the Advent force had gone under. They looked like some nightmarish cross between a squid and a UFO. Reverb had every sensor on the drone recording as the four things took to the air. For a moment, he thought they were pursue him, but they altered course, heading out toward the ocean. Reverb continued his evasion, piling on the speed as he flew over land. The four _things_ vanished over the horizon and he let himself relax a little.

 _We are clear. Those are not in any X-Com files that I have seen._ Reverb said softly. _Something new?_

 _I don't know_. The other said weakly. _Most of the Earth's surface is covered by water... That... if they can operate under the water..._

 _Under the water_ **and** _in the air. We have problems._ Reverb agreed. _None of our gear is set up for underwater use. They can go in and vanish any time they wish and we won't be able to do anything about it._

 _I don't think they are going to_ **hide** _._ The other said quietly. Reverb had nothing to say to that.

"Reverb!" A call came from the Avenger. "We have a report from a group of refugees in the South Pacific. They say they are under attack by aliens. Can you investigate?"

Reverb heaved a sigh that the other inside him shared.

"Avenger? We have a problem..."

* * *

 **For those who are not fans of the X-Com series, the sequel to 1994's 'UFO: Enemy Unknown' which became 'X-Com: Enemy Unknown' was 'Terror From The Deep'. This was a lot of fun to write. A BIG thank you to Firaxis for rebooting the X-Com series and making it so cool if HIGHLY aggravating at times. There will likely be more stories.  
**


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